SP-Wait Kids?
by 14AmyChan
Summary: Welcome to the next generation of Ghost Hunting! Join these adorable children as they learn the ins and outs of their parents' jobs, and perhaps explore their own talents along the way! Co-authored between Naruisawesome and 14AmyChan
1. Chapter 1

_**14AmyChan: okay, so, don't kill me, but I teamed up with an awesome author and we're now working on a collaboration! *hides behind aforementioned awesome author***_

_**Naruisawesome: We hope you enjoy this story!**_

_**14AmyChan: and we don't own Ghost Hunt!**_

_**Naruisawesome: But we do own some of the characters!**_

_**14AmyChan: Ah! That we do! *^_^***_

A baby's wail pierced the mid-morning air. It was not a desperate scream of pain, nor a frightened cry of pain. It was merely a calling to attention, a need that was waiting to be fulfilled.

"Emi, are you hungry again?" a woman asked, a smile on her face as she gazed upon her six-month-old's face. The child had her father's eyes and her own tufts of hair. The baby continued to cry for its food as her mother picked her up.

"Alright, Emi, calm down and we'll get you some food." she said softly to her daughter.

As the mother fed her baby, the father went about dressing and getting ready for the day, all the while speaking to his wife and little girl.

"I suppose the Shibuyas and Lins will be at the office before us, won't they?" John Brown asked as he fiddled with his tie, contorting his face into an adorable expression of innocent confusion as the secret of tie tying eluded him.

"Aren't they always?" Masako smiled at her husband.

"I guess so," John smiled, forgoing his tie a moment to sneak a kiss from his wife.

He then lightly rested his hand on little Emi.

"Naru and Lin just always have to be there before anyone else." Masako said as she cradled the baby more securely when she began to squirm.

"And now they're dragging their families with them," John chuckled good naturedly. The twenty-nine year old had remained gentle and kind throughout the years, even when leaving the priesthood to be with Masako. It was a trait everyone admired in him.

"Yes, although I don't think Mai and Madoka like getting the children up so early." Masako replied.

John was about to respond when their daughter indicated she was finished. Emi was passed over to her father while her mother prepared for the day. The blond man smiled at this cherished time with his child and held her close for a moment.

"Never grow up..." he said softly. Emi cooed happily in response before promptly spitting up all over his tie.

John glanced down at his soiled tie and sighed. And to think that he had finally gotten it tied. He looked back up at his daughter, and when she giggled he couldn't help but smile.

"I thought you would need this," Masako stated somewhat smugly as she held in her hand a clean new tie. She had walked into the room only moments prior in order to see their daughter soil yet another tie. "She runs through those ties faster than she does her own diaper, I swear."

Emi cooed happily as if agreeing with that statement. If she did not spit up on them, she often stuffed the ties in her mouth and in one memorable event, even stuffed the tip down her diaper. John was halfway wondering if he should stop with the ties until she was older, but then Masako came over and made short work of discarding the old tie and replacing it with the new.

"Now, if Emi doesn't spit up again in the next few minutes," Masako began, looking at Emi before she tickled her tummy making the baby laugh. "We'll be ready to go."

The child giggled brightly, her blue eyes searching her surroundings, taking in every light refraction and color. The Brown family waited a few moments longer before it was deemed Emi would not spit up again.

John continued to hold Emi as Masako grabbed the pink polka dotted baby bag. Then they were on their way in the SPR office.

As per custom nowadays, the family was greeted with boisterous noise, starting with the swarming of many mini-people.

"Mamma, Auntie Masa brought the smelly baby again!" a dark-haired child of five years announced loudly, stalking straight up to the family again. Despite her harsh words and seemingly disgusted face, no one was fooled by this girl's farce.

"Yuzuki! What have I told you? Don't say such things!" the girl's mother's voice rang from the office kitchenette.

"But-"

"You're mother's right, for once," the girl's father admonished as he walked out of his office, his blue eyes observing half of his children and his sharp ears hearing the angry retort of his wife.

The little girl, Yuzuki, glanced petulantly at her father.

"Well it's true!" She exclaimed.

"Come on, Yui," a young boy with a Chinese heritage and a bright smile said, hoping to calm the girl down. "Emi-chan can't help how she smells..."

"Soutaaa..." the black haired girl complained, her blue eyes narrowing. "Don't call me Yui! It's Yu-zu-ki! Yuzuki is more awesome that Yui, just like me!"

Souta rolled his eyes at his friend. "What does it matter, Yui?" the boy asked teasingly, purposely calling the girl by her nickname.

"You-!"

"The tea's ready," a distinct voice, now free from admonishing or angry tones, chirped happily as its owner came from the kitchen. By her side was a boy-the same age as Yuzuki-who had short messy hair and kind brown eyes. He was carrying a set of tea very carefully as he walked by his mother's side, silently offering the substance to anyone who wanted some with a smile.

"Why thank you, Kazuki." Masako thanked with an amiable smile as the little boy handed out the hot tea to her and her husband after they sat down. John's cup reminded on the table in front of him as he was still holding his restless daughter.

The young boy-Kazuki by name-smiled happily at being able to help and then made his way to his sister and friend.

"So now we're just waiting for Amaya and Jun?" Souta asked. Yuzuki frowned.

"At least they don't stink..." she muttered, loud enough for all to hear.

"Yuzuki!" Mai scolded her daughter with a stern face. "Stop that, I told you!" she briefly glanced at her husband for help on controlling their little girl, who was being insolent at the moment.

Naru sipped on his tea for a moment. Either delaying the inevitable or simply enjoying his tea, you decide. When he had finished, he gave his daughter a cool glare over the rim of the china.

"Emi Brown smells like a normal, healthy baby. If you would rather, she could always smell worse," the blue-eyed man stated factually. Yuzuki stayed silent for a short while before turning her attention back to the babe.

"Then I guess she's fine..." she admitted before walking over the Emi and staring at her. "But if she smells like this now, I don't wanna know how she smells when she's sick."

The baby blinked up at Yuzuki in wonder before she laughed adorably and clapped clumsy from her father's lap.

"Yooo~!" a male voice called into the office. Kazuki immediately ran to the door, a wide grin on his face as he ran. A grey-haired man walked into the office with a little girl in tow. "What, my darling Bou-san not in yet?" the man sighed dramatically.

Mai rolled her eyes.

"No, Yasu, but they should be here soon though so don't worry your little head about it." she informed with a smile.

"Hi, Kazuki!" the little girl by Yasu's side chirped. Her long hair was tied back in a secure scrunchie and she had a glint in her eye, much like her father's. Kazuki waved hello excitedly before dragging her over to the other children.

Most of the adults chuckled at the little boy's antics.

"Hey, Amaya!" Souta greeted his friend as she came to them.

"Hey, everyone," Amaya greeted her friends with a grin. "So why did uncle Naru call daddy over?"

"My daddy says he's got a case," Yuzuki answered, finally breaking off her staring match with baby Emi. She looked Amaya and Souta evenly, her eyes showing her barely contained excitement. "And this time, we all get to go."

Amaya's little eyes widened a bit with excitement also. "Really? Are you sure, Yuzuki? They told you that?" she inquired, full of questions.

"Yup," the young girl stated, popping the P noticeably. "Mamma and daddy were talking about it a few days ago. Kazuki wanted to know if we could all go, so Daddy called your daddy, and-"

"They said okay this time," Souta finished his friend's statement with an eager grin. He had only gone on three cases before now, while the twins had been "on the field", so to speak, since they were three. It had taken the half-Chinese boy a bit longer to hone his... talents.

"Really?!" Amaya grinned brightly. "Daddy, I can go, right?!" She addressed her father.

"Oh, I don't know... I thought I saw some greens still on your plate last night..." Yasu grinned at his daughter, who's face dropped in shock.

"But I ate all my greens!" the young girl complained, attempting to get her father to say yes. "Souta, Yuzuki, and Kazuki get to go!"

"Don't forget Jun too." Yuzuki intervened, gaining the other girl's attention. Amaya twirled back around to face Yasu with big round eyes and her bottom lip sticking out slightly.

"Daaaaaddy! Please?!" She begged, clasping her hands together.

At first, it looked as though the man were going to tease his daughter further, but one look at her adorable face cast those thoughts away. Not completely, but well enough.

"Yes, you're coming," Yasu consented. Before his daughter could get too far in celebrating her victory, he tacked and additional statement on the end. "But if you say the ghost ate your greens, he'll eat you next!"

With wide eyes, the little girl let out a fleeting shriek at Yasu's words and quickly hid behind Kazuki, peeking at her father over the little boy's shoulder.

The young Shibuya seemed flustered for a moment, confused at what to do. He ended up holding his arms out in defense and attempting to hide Amaya from her father's playful gaze.

Mai smiled at her son trying to be a brave little hero, and she had to cover her mouth with her hand in order to muffle her giggles.

Naru openly smirked about the scene, causing slight confusion in his son, who had an uncanny knack for observing everything he possibly could.

"Daddy, Kazuki wants to know why you're making fun of him and Amaya," Yuzuki stated brashly, without a second thought towards repercussions of any kind.

"Is someone making fun without me!?" an excited young male voice called from the front door. Everyone turned to the source of the newest voice.

"Move out the way!" came a woman's voice as the man was pushed forward. "How do you expect us to get in if you're blocking the doorway?"

Yasuhara's eyes lit up when he saw the older man and a playfully glint sparkled in his eye.

"My darling Bou-san!" the grey-haired man cried out, transferring his teasing to the monk and priestess pair that had fallen through the door. "Come into my awaiting bosom and we will embrace forever!"

In panic, Bou-san's eyes widened and he quickly dodged the oncoming Yasu and hide behind Ayako.

"And I'm _married_ to you?" the priestess sighed angrily. Though it may have been from embarrassment. Ah, well.

"Uncle Yasu!" a distinct young voice cried out happily, and before anyone knew it, the bespectacled man was flat on his back, a young boy with fiery red hair pinning him down with a mischievous grin.

"Jun! How is my little accomplice?" Yasu asked, grinned up at the boy.

"Dad says we've got a case! Do we get to meet a ghost that pranks people!?" Jun asked, his eyes alight with anticipation. Ayako rolled her eyes in the background, a motherly smile somehow finding itself on her face.

"We don't know that yet, but it's most obviously a-"

"Well, if you all would sit down, you can learn about the case I've taken." Naru interrupted, giving everyone a steady gaze.

Without much hesitation, the adults gathered in a well-practiced circle around their leader. Eventually, they got the children to settle long enough do they, too, were still. If one were to look down on the scene, the order clockwise would be Naru, Yuzuki, Souta, Lin, Madoka, Amaya, Yasu, Jun, Bou-san, Ayako, Masako (and Emi), John, Kazuki, Mai, and then back to Naru.

Hopefully not too confusing, but those were the seating arrangements.

The children, especially, listened quietly as Yuzuki and Kazuki's father began to speak.

"This case was brought to my attention a week ago when the client came into the office with a bucket of paint on his head," Naru stated. A few chuckles of disbelief were heard throughout the room.

"Kazuki said that man had been funny." Yuzuki spoke for her brother.

"Yes, his actions were funny," Mai agreed with her children, quirking an amused smile at the memory of their estranged client. Her expression sobered quickly enough, allowing Naru to take the reins of the conversation again.

"Based upon initial information, I believe this is a poltergeist of a prankster. The actions are similar to a case we took three months ago," Naru explained. No one in the room spoke, though that did little to mask a few chuckles emitted from a certain researcher.

The excitement Jun was expressing was almost too much to bare though.

"As we are all familiar with such a case and it appears to be low-threat, it is safe enough to introduce the next generation to the job, should they wish to pursue this career in the future," Naru concluded, snapping his folder shut. Yuzuki looked up to her father, hope and excitement reflecting not just in her eyes, but in the eyes of every child in the room.

"You mean we finally get to train?" she asked aloud, her tone of voice revealing exactly how excited she really was. Naru gave a curt nod of his head, much to the children's delight.

"Yatta!" the victorious cheer rang through the room, each child doing their own variation of celebration.

Mai laughed warmly at the kids' antics and leaned closer to her husband. "Looks like we do have the next generation, Naru." she said as she smiled at him.

Her only response was a brief nod of the head, but Mai already knew what her husband had not uttered. He was very proud of the children's reaction. And never before had he been so eager to take such a boring case.

At least, they believed it would be a boring case. But you and I should know it will be anything but.

_**Naruisawesome: I hope they got all the character names...**_

_**14AmyChan: Should we just clarify for now?**_

_**Naruisawesome: Why not?**_

_**14AmyChan: Yuzuki and Kazuki Shibuya are Naru and Mai's kids**_

_**Naruisawesome: Emi Brown is John and Masako's daughter**_

_**14AmyChan: Souta Lin is Lin and Madoka's son**_

_**Naruisawesome: Amaya is Yasuhara's daughter**_

_**14AmyChan: and Jun is Takigawa is Hoshou and Ayako's son**_

_**Naruisawesome: Hey, Amy...?**_

_**14AmyChan: hm?**_

_**Naruisawesome: Who's Amaya's mom?**_

_**14AmyChan: ...**_

_**Naruisawesome: ...**_

_**14AmyChan: inconsequential for now...?**_

_**Naruisawesome: *shrugs shoulders* okay, I can live with that.**_

_**14AmyChan: okay, please read and review! *^_^***_

_**Naruisawesome: And thanks for reading!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**14AmyChan: Guess what!**_

_**Naruisawesome: We're back!**_

_**14AmyChan: With more little SPR goodness!**_

_**Naruisawesome: We don't own the adults. The kids, we have all the rights to that one.**_

_**14AmyChan: Onward!**_

"Soutaaaa-chaaan!" the young boy heard his mother's cheerful voice call from the kitchen of their home. "Have you packed everything you need while we're on the case?!"

"Not yet!" the young boy called in return. He turned to look at what he had packed again. Laptop, cables, cleaning cloth for the screen if he needed it, video camera... why did he feel like he was forgetting some things...

Ah, of course! He had gotten to pack the book that he wrote his discoveries in! His Uncle Naru had suggested it to him some time ago.

Souta padded halfway across his room and reached for his bookshelf. These were filled with books that were given to him by Dad, Uncle Naru, Uncle Bou-san, Aunt Aya, and a few children's books from Mom and Aunt Mai. The five year old stretched as far as he could and was finally able to flip the book off of the shelf.

Along with several other books. They all clattered to the ground, making a loud noise.

"What was that?!" his mother's voice rang again, although this time it was filled with worry and slight reprehension.

"My books fell," the young boy explained as he set to clean them up. A slightly worried Madoka Lin appeared in her son's doorway, surveying the damage before stepping in to assist the young boy, lest his vertically challenged stature prove to be his downfall. Again.

"How many of these were you planning on taking?" The woman wondered, picking up a copy of _Perfect Pranks, A Beginner's Guide to Pranking Big_. Three guesses which uncle had bestowed that gift.

Souta shrugged and then grinned cheekily at his mother. "Most of them?"

Madoka sighed at her son. "Souta-chan, you can't take all of that. I doubt we'll be there _that_ long; your uncle Naru will have enough for you do to without being bored anyways, I'm sure. Plus they wouldn't all fit in your bag." she told him.

"Yes, they would," the child refuted. To illustrate his point, he took the books that were in his arms and plopped them inside the half-empty bag. "See?"

"What about your clothes? And the charms that your father taught you how to make?" Madoka asked with a knowing smile. It was not the first time he would have forgotten such things, and she was sure it would not be the last.

The boy's triumphant smile dropped in realization that he had indeed forgotten those things.

"Um..." Souta thought aloud, staying still for but a moment before running around his room, grabbing only the clothes that made it into his small fists first and tossing them half-hazardly onto his bed. With far more care, he dashed to his writing desk and picked up a small stack of papers, each one inked on with his father's distinct Chinese script. Next to those were another set of charms, scripted with handwriting that was a slightly messy imitation of the former. Souta held these papers with about as much care as he carried his own laptop.

Madoka smiled as she watched him dash around his room getting the things he needed. She knew he would be disappointed once he tried to pack everything and it wouldn't all fit into his bag.

Soon enough, the woman's prediction was validated by Souta's loud grunting in an attempt to make everything fit. Madoka laughed for a moment before going in and helping her son pack like the expert she was.

"We have to leave early tomorrow morning so you need to go to bed earlier tonight." Madoka said in a teasing tone as she began to fold his clothes.

"But mom-"

"Your mother is right, Souta," a voice stated from the doorway. Both heads turned to see the eldest Lin standing in the doorway, a soft smile-reserved only for his family-on his face, and an empty briefcase in his hand. It was about the size of Souta's laptop. The man walked it and handed his son the gift.

Souta stared at it in excitement before looking up at his father. "This is mine?" he asked.

Lin nodded and his son immediately began to inspect it from the inside out, an excited grin never leaving his face.

"This is so cool!" the boy proclaimed.

He lifted his laptop out of his bag then proceeded to place it in the new briefcase.

Wordlessly, Lin opened a generously sized flap on the side of the briefcase. Souta looked up in confusion. Father quirked an eyebrow. Son got the hint.

"For the charms!" he exclaimed. Lin got that glint in his eye that told the boy he was right. Excitedly, the child grabbed the charms he and his father had made earlier and stuck them in the bag, only one of them loosening themselves from his grip. It was gracefully picked up by Madoka, who took one look at the paper and donned her mischievous smirk.

"Ara, ara, is this Yuzuki-chan's charm?" the woman asked, holding the delicately made charm in her palm.

The boy snapped his eyes to the charm that his mother was holding with a tiny tint of pink to his cheeks. He carefully tried to take it from Madoka's grasp, but she was having none of that.

"Ah, ah, ah, Souta-chan. Not so fast." She grinned.

"M-mother!" Souta whined, attempting to retrieve the charm once more. Once again, the brilliant woman held it _just_ out of her son's tiny reach with a smile.

"So it _is_ Yuzuki-chan's!" the woman proclaimed happily to the entire world. Seemingly. Both parents knew Yui conversation-like many others like it-would not leave the room. At least, until the boy was older by about ten years.

The blush of the boy's cheeks turned a little darker.

"So what if it is?" he asked with a slight pout at his mother making fun of him.

"There is nothing wrong with being careful while making your charms," Lin intervened before Madoka could get a word in. He shot his wife a look that said they all needed sleep before the case tomorrow.

His wife also pouted and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, fine." Madoka said to Lin before she addressed her son. "Alright, young man! Time for bed!"

"All right," the boy consented, knowing that his mother would continue to tease him should he resist.

Souta turned back to his fully packed backpack and his new briefcase. He zipped up the backpack, took the charm from his thankfully merciful mother, and packed it gently in his briefcase. Then, he placed both items by this door before shuffling into bed.

Once he laid down and got comfortable in his bed, Madoka playfully tucked him in tightly and kissed his forehead.

"'Night, Souta-kun!" she whispered, as mothers often do.

"Good night, mom," the child replied.

"Good night, Souta," Lin stated from the doorway, gentle smile still on his face.

"Good night, dad," he responded, a smile on his own face. The two parents then shut out the light and left their son's room. It was literally seconds afterwards when they heard light snores come from his room.

Madoka smiled softly as she listened to the sounds emitting from her little boy.

"He's growing up..." she quietly said, absent-mindedly.

Knowing how she felt, the tall Chinese man wrapped an arm around his wife and walked into their room, where they still needed to pack.

"I know."

* * *

With her arms crossed, the red-haired miko tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the last member of the household to finish getting ready. Still having some time left before they had to leave, she knew that they weren't late, but by the time he was done they _would_ be.

"Hurry up, slow poke!" she yelled. She gave a glance at her son, who was patiently waiting for his father. Sleep was still evident in his eyes.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Bou-san yelled as he finally crashed into the front room, multiple bags packed mercilessly atop his poor back. "How much did you have to pack, you old hag?"

Ayako glared at him for the last comment. "They're not just mine, they're Jun's too. You don't except him to carry his own do you?"

"Of course not, but would it kill you to back a bit lighter?" he groaned. As if to emphasize his point, one of the topmost bags fell to the ground, splaying its cosmetic contents all over the ground. Bou-san groaned as he picked it up.

"It's not like you even _need_ all of this... you look fine without it..." he muttered, fairly certain his wife could not hear him. Then again, he was never quiet when he muttered.

"W-What? I'll have you know-"

"Dad's right, Mom." Jun interrupted as he came and stood between his arguing parents. "You look fine without it." he grinned up at her.

Ayako was struck speechless. On the one hand, she wanted her makeup to look her best at all times, but these two...

"B-but I look even more beautiful with it on," she stated, as though that were the end of it.

That is never the end of it when concerning a debate in the Takigawa family.

"_You_ think you look more beautiful with it on." Bou-san retorted with a grin, much like the one his son was wearing.

The red haired woman had her face turn the same hue as her hair. She whirled around so her husband could not see her blushing.

"Do what you want, then," she shouted as she crossed the doorway. With a victorious grin, Bou-san packed only a quarter of the cosmetics in a smaller bag and had Jun carry that. It was light enough for him, after all.

He gave his son a thumbs up before they followed Ayako out the house.

* * *

"Daddy!" Amaya called, her chipper morning attitude reminding Yasu of a much younger version of himself, when mornings were not nearly as difficult as they were now. "Are we almost there yet?"

He chuckled at his daughter's eagerness. She had been so excited last night that he could hardly get her to sleep.

"Yes, just a little longer." He answered.

"Yaaay!" the girl squealed, pressing her nose against the glass in anticipation. The buildings of Shibuya passed by in a colorful whir.

Amaya began bouncing in her seat excitedly.

Yasu chuckled as he watched his excited daughter's antics. He expertly pulled the car into SPR's parking lot before turning to his daughter.

Only to see had already exited the car and was halfway up the stairs without making a sound.

He sighed to himself as he stared after her. He's _really_ going to have to keep an eye on her.

Yasu followed his ninja-like daughter into the SPR building to find that a majority of the members were already inside.

Naru, Mai, and their kids were sitting on the couch. Mai and Yuzuki-not being morning people at all-were trying to nap. Mai on Naru's left and Yuzuki on her father's right. Kazuki was sitting in his mother's lap, patiently awaiting the arrival of his friends.

John and Masako were resting on the other couch across from the Shibuya's. They watched as Madoka and Souta 'played' with Emi, who was sitting happily in her carrier and giggling at the funny faces her entertainers were doing. Considering that Souta and Madoka were there, Lin had to be in his office.

"Ah, you're here!" John stated happily upon noticing the arrival of the Yasuharas. "Now we just have to wait for the Takigawas."

"It's kind of weird not having Mai be the late one..." Madoka said nonchalantly. The children who were awake enough to do so looked at Mai in confusion. In their lifetimes, the woman had always been as early as her husband.

"Aunt Mai was always late...?" Souta asked as he looked up at his mother, puzzled. Naru scoffed and answered in Madoka's place.

"Saying that wouldn't even be the half of it." he muttered, glancing at his wife.

"I... resent that... remark," Mai argued, her sleepiness taking any edge her voice would have had away. Right as she was going to stick her tongue out at her coworkers and friends, she yawned at the most inopportune time. Emi giggled.

Naru shook his head at Mai, careful not to wake Yuzuki, who had finally fallen asleep at her father's side.

"You're so stubborn," he stated matter-of-factly. Kazuki beamed brightly from his mother's side, knowing that his father was only teasing his mother. It was something both he and Yuzuki lived with on a day-to-day basis.

He wondered silently when the Takigawas would arrive. He was, after all, very excited to start this case.

"So you are!" He heard his mother retort as she tried to glare at his father, but she failed miserably due to her sleepiness.

Chuckles are heard around the room, and the good mood was cut only when the door opened, revealing a flustered Ayako and a rather smug-looking duo of Takigawa men. Jun and Hoshou were fist-bumping as they entered the office after Ayako.

Ayako whipped around—as if sensing what they were doing—to glare at the two.

"Don't think you two have won anything!" she yelled, jarring Yuzuki from her sleep.

"Hey, awesomeness sleeping here!" she grumbled as she curled into her father's side, desperately attempting to regain her sleep-filled state. Kazuki smiled lightly and his shoulders shook as though he were laughing. The female twin shot him a withering glare.

"Not another word, Kazuki," she warned.

The boy instantly froze but the smile never left his face. He made a 'locking his mouth shut and throwing away the key' motion with his hands.

"It was time to wake up, anyways," Naru stated as he shifted. Both Mai and Yuzuki groaned in disapproval, but eventually sat up, waiting for the order that stated the inevitable.

"The Brown, Takigawa, and Yasuhara families will be following mine and Lin's families to the case location," the boss stated. Everyone was instantly grateful the man had invested in overly sized vans years ago.

Kazuki's shoulders slumped a bit in disappointment at not being able to ride with Amaya, but he knew his father's orders were a must.

Yuzuki looked as though she were going to comment on it, but then decided such a statement was not worthy of her awesomeness.

"How long will it take to get there?" Amaya asked, her impatience showing again as the team made their way outside. Her father chuckled.

"About two hours." Naru took the time to answer the child's antsy question. Amaya pouted at his words.

"Don't worry, Amaya-chan, we'll be there before you know it!" Souta tried to cheer his friend up as he patted her shoulder. "I went on a case that was four hours away once."

"Ugh, don't remind me!" Yuzuki shouted from the background, remembering the case. Souta set his sights on her next, a grin on his face.

"Aww, come on, Yui! It wasn't that bad; it was fun!" he exclaimed as he went to her and slung an arm over her shoulder playfully.

Yuzuki glowered at the boy who was about to lose an arm. Or, at least, he would if she was like her brother or father. Instead, here glaring would have to suffice for now.

"You aren't allowed to touch me," she proclaimed. "I'm too awesome!"

Souta, however, wasn't all that fazed, having been use to them. His grin only widened.

"Maybe you're too awesome to _not_ be touched." he replied, arm still in place.

At that, the little girl fumed. She would have stuck out her tongue, though she deemed the act not awesome enough. Instead, she opted for swiftly moving out from underneath Souta's leaning weight, allowing him to collide most ungracefully with the floor. She smirked a smirk very much like her father's.

"That's what you get," she quipped before hopping into the backseat of the van she was supposed to ride in. She sat by her brother's side and seemed to be instantly lost into a world that no one else knew about. Well, maybe Kazuki knew about it. He was making funny faces.

Souta huffed as he got up, dusting off his hands then his pants. He glared at the vehicle which Yuzuki just climbed into before giving a smirk of his own.

"Just you wait, Yui-chan." he mused, walking the van as he thought of many ways to get her back for what she did.

Watch out, world, the son of Madoka Lin is on the loose!

_**14AmyChan: Can I just say I love these kids?**_

_**Naruisawesome: You may.**_

_**14AmyChan: yayz! *^_^***_

_**Naruisawesome: Thanks for reading our story...**_

_**14AmyChan: ...and please review!**_

_**Naruisawesome and 14AmyChan: See you guys next chapter!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**14AmyChan: Okay, guys, please don't kill us!**_

_**Naruisawesome: though… we could have uploaded this bit earlier…**_

_**14AmyChan: yeah, our bad. XD BUT!**_

_**Naruisawesome: there is some good news for the readers that comes with this!**_

_**14AmyChan: Which we will tell you guys**_

_**Naruisawesome: At the end of the chapter!**_

_**14AmyChan: We don't own Ghost Hunt characters!**_

_**Naruisawesome: Except for our OC children!**_

_**14AmyChan and Naruisawesome: enjoy!**_

A building stood tall, quiet, undisturbed. It looked to be the wonderful house of a middle-class hardworking citizen with obvious regard for his lifestyle and the peace and quiet of his surrounding neighbors. The lawn was perfectly manicured, the windows and doors in pristine order, and all three stories standing dignified in quiet grace.

Then the SPR vans pulled up.

"Ugh, let me out already! I can't stand being next you anymore!" Yuzuki's voice came in complete irritation as she tried her best to shove Souta out the door. The boy only had a grin on his face as a reply.

If anything, the boy's arms were cast across the doorway, barring any entry or exit from the backseat of the car.

"C'mon, Yui-chan, you'll have to do better than that!" he taunted playfully as the little girl continued her attempts to shove him outside. She stopped only for a moment to growl at him before backing up and climbing to the front seat in order to escape.

Luckily her father and mother were already outside with the rest of the grown-ups or she'd end up with a scolding for climbing in the seats.

"Yui-chan, you can't get away that easily!" Souta teased, still not ready to give up on making her pay for earlier. He grabbed her by the end of her shirt to keep her from getting any farther in trying to escape.

With a yelp, the girl lost her balance and almost fell over. Thank heavens for little brothers, even if they are younger by only four minutes.

Yuzuki glared coldly at Souta and moved threateningly towards him. "You-!"

"Yuzuki, what are you doing?!" the little girl suddenly heard her mother's voice in front of the door.

"Souta tried keeping me in the car!" Yuzuki stated factually, her face steaming. She poked a tongue out at the aforementioned young boy as she hopped out of the van.

"Kazuki?" Mai asked as she cast her eyes to her son, looking for an answer. "Did you...?"

The young boy nodded before he hopped out of the van, eager to meet up with his friends.

Mai sighed as she watched her children and Souta ran to the others. She followed after them, going to her husband.

Naru had already ascended the steps of their client's house and had knocked on the door. The troop only waited for a few moments before the door opened, revealing their client, whose hair was dyed a neon green.

"Thank goodness you're here," he smiled wearily. Bags were ready to be packed up and hauled away under his eyes.

"Please, come in." he said as he stepped away from the door, allowing everyone to walk in.

As they entered the structure, most of the children gawked openly. It was simple, yet somehow refined. Only Yuzuki and Souta seemed to keep some semblance of professionalism about them. As the client spoke to the adults, Jun cracked a mischievous grin and scooted closer to Kazuki.

Kazuki, who had not noticed Jun come up behind him since he was too busy, looking at the place's design, jumped a bit when he felt the other boy slung his arm around his neck. He slowly turned his head to look at Jun with an incredulous look, and to his chagrin, he was met with a wide grin.

"My dear Kazi-kun, don't you think our house will look this splendid?" Jun asked, his eyes dancing in mirth. Kazuki silently pleaded for relief.

He desperately tried to slip away, but the grip Jun had on him told the young boy he wasn't going anywhere.

"Come on, Kazi-kuuun!" Jun smiled. The glint in his eye caused the brown-haired Shibuya to sweat. He mentally cried out for someone to save him. Anyone, really!

"Ka-zu-ki-kuuuun!" Jun continued to tease as he poked Kazuki's cheek repeatedly.

Kazuki desperately squirmed, hoping someone would notice his plight. He wished to call out, but—

"...and this is my son, Kazuki, along with Takigawa-san's son, Jun," Naru introduced, casting the two boys into the attention of the client. Kazuki stopped instantly, and made an attempt to bow, despite Jun's vice grip on him.

"Jun!" Ayako hissed in a warning at seeing what her son was doing. The boy pouted a bit, but complied with his mother's wishes and released Kazuki from his hold, which made Kazuki stumble over since he was trying to bow at that moment.

He expected the ground to collide with his nose, but was pleasantly surprised when he found himself saved from that painful experience. He looked up to see that the client had caught him. Kazuki bowed deeply, thanking the man for his kindness.

The man frowned a bit as he gazed at the little boy.

The client looked up at Naru with a frown. "Your child is quite rude. I went to the trouble to help him and he didn't even say-"

"That's enough outta you!" Yuzuki stated loudly from behind, marching up t her brother and placing a protective arm around his shoulder. "_You_ called _us_ for help, so don't even think of insulting Kazuki or we can just turn around and leave, leaf-head!"

Mai's eyes widened considerably at hearing her daughter's words. Of course she couldn't say she _completely_ disagreed with Yuzuki—the man seemed quite rude at the moment also—but she knew such things shouldn't be said.

"Yuzuki!" she reprimanded quietly, making her way her. She placed a hand over the girl's mouth, who was still trying to rant at their client.

Naru, however, did very well in masking his smirk as he brought the client's attention back onto himself.

"If you are finished making half-baked assumption about my team, then please show us to our base," he stated professionally. Mai wanted to sigh in exasperation. Yuzuki was defiantly her father's daughter.

The client, Kazuma Yori, blinked in surprise at Naru before flicking his gaze back down to Kazuki for a moment. The man reluctantly nodded.

"Very well. I set up your base on the first floor, as per your request," the man stated, leading the group into a medium-sized room. It was large enough for the equipment and was colored in...rainbow?

"Sorry about the...decor. It seems my _intruder_ is excited to have _guests_," the man stated, disdain obvious on his face.

In the background Yasu and especially Jun snickered as they looked around at the 'master piece' the _intruder_ had made.

"Bou-san, Lin, John, I want you to bring the equipment immediately. Souta-kun and Kazuki, you may help. Ayako-san and Brown-san, walk through the building and see if you can feel anything. Jun-kun and Yuzuki, you may assist if you wish. Yasuhara-san, you and Amaya-kun will need to begin tracking the history of the residence down," Naru stated, dishing out orders as per usual. Emi was passed over to Mai as the baby girl's parents left to complete their work.

"So, Naru, what was with that?" Mai pondered.

*she's wondering about him having everyone get to work instantly. Usually, he'd let them at least find their rooms first*

Naru casted a glance over to his wife before he walked to her, thinking for a moment about just what she meant.

"The sooner the children start their training the better. I'm sure they wouldn't mind either seeing as how excited they are." he answered.

"Hmm... that makes sense..." Mai agreed. She held Emi in one hand as she watched her husband set up a table-provided by their client-for the monitors to sit on. It was a few moments before she spoke again. "Don't you think it's odd?"

"What is?" Naru asked before giving a small smirk. "The children?"

"No!" Mai huffed indignantly, certain that Naru was teasing her. Again. "Kazuma-san said the spirit was excited for visitors, but spirits don't usually move so quickly. They usually observe first, right?"

Naru was slightly impressed that she had noticed. Maybe she _was_ learning.

It was about time.

As he finished setting up the table, Naru turned to look at her and gave a curt nod.

"...don't get it. How is it she always knows what you want to tell us?" the voice of Souta queried as he and Kazuki each carried a few of the wires and cables into the room. They were followed by Bou-san and John, who seemed relatively amused with the one-sided conversation.

The only respond Souta got from the other boy was a shrug and a small grin though.

It always seemed as though the silent boy knew more that he was letting on.

* * *

"Do you feel anything, guys?" Amaya asked, wandering around the house along with Aunt Aya, Aunt Masa, and Yuzuki-chan. She knew very well that they were thoroughly and systematically checking the house for spiritual presences, though it seemed more fun-to her, at least-to say that they were wandering.

"Yeah Masako, do you feel anything?" the girl's Aunt Aya asked the other woman lazily. Amaya immediately wondered if Ayako was even _trying_ to sense anything.

"There is nothing here," Masako stated gracefully as she began to lead everyone out of the room. Yuzuki frowned at not being at the head of the line. So, she settled for bringing up the rear, making sure no one was left behind in any of the rooms.

"...play..."

Yuzuki spun around, certain she had heard something. Alone in this room, she was determined to figure out what it was. After all, she was awesome enough to investigate solo, right?

Of course she was, she concluded. She would find out what was going on faster than Amaya and her two aunts would. Without the care to even look back, Yuzuki began to investigate on her own.

The first thing she did was check the windowsill. If it was even a little drafty, none of the temperatures would work. Daddy usually checked windows, doors, and air ducts. And-she reasoned-if cold air could move through those places, then so could sounds.

Especially weird sounds.

Yuzuki refused to be freaked out by it though.

Having quickly checked the windowsills and doors, she looked for an air duct. She found none. Okay, so the door and windows were shut tight, and there was no air duct.

So where was the sound coming—

"...come..."

The girl momentarily froze at the voice. It sounded very...very close to her...

Yuzuki shook her fright away. She was an awesome spiritual investigator, and no way was any voice gonna scare her off! She turned around to face the voice head on.

But there was nothing there.

She automatically began to look around the room, but she still couldn't find a thing. She went over to the door entrance and peeked her head out.

"YUZUKI-CHAN!" Amaya's voice called the instant the door was opened. The suddenness of the greet in caused the Shibuya girl to take a step back and massage her poor assaulted ears.

"Ow.. what is it, Amaya?" The black haired girl asked, her eyes narrowing in definite irritation. Wonder who she picked that quirk up from...

"What have you been doing?!" Amaya asked full of concern. "When Aunt Aya noticed you were missing she started freaking out! Especially when she began mumbling to herself about having to tell your daddy!" she finished, grabbing Yuzuki's shoulders and started shaking her back and forth. "Don't do that again!"

"Am-a-ya stop sh-a-king me!" Yuzuki cried, her speech impaired because of the constant motion. Noting the, Amaya swiftly let go, and the black haired girl simply took a deep breath.

"I-"

"Amaya!" Ayako called out as her and Masako ran into the room again. She sighed in utter relief when she saw Yuzuki along with the girl. "Oh thank goodness, Yuzuki!"

"I was perfectly safe, Aunt Ayako," Yuzuki stated, irritated at having been cut off. She then walked proudly out of the room, forcing the rest of the troop to follow her. As they left, none of them detected a whisper on the wind.

"...playtime approaches..."

"Yuzuki, answer me!" Ayako exclaimed, exasperated at her little 'niece's' noncooperation as they walked back into base. The girl was so much like her father that is was concerning. "Just what were you doing _alone_ in that room?!"

"I don't see what the big deal is," the stubborn girl muttered, stopping just shy of her father, who had heard enough to deem that his daughter got a careless streak strictly from her mother. He sighed mentally. Now he would have _two_ women of his life adding to his ulcers.

"Yuzuki..." he stated lowly, and the girl stopped. She turned towards him with a glint in her eye, though he could not tell what kind of glint.

"Daddy..." the girl replied. She wasn't exactly sure what her father would say to her. She _did_ know that her father hated it when her mother ran off by herself though. But that wasn't the same situation, right?

Ayako huffed, stepping in. "Go on, tell your father!"

"Yes, Yuzuki. Tell me _why_ you deemed it a smart action to deviate from your group in a house we were called into because of its stereotypical haunted tendencies. I'm _dying_ to know," Naru stated, giving his daughter the stare that got them to spill the truth every time. The little girl always faltered under that stare.

"...there was a voice," she reluctantly answered her father. He, after all, was the only one more awesome than herself. So he was the one who was able to get to the truth first.

Naru pinched the bridge of his nose. His daughter was a lot more like her mother than people thought.

"So you decided to go after it?" he asked.

"I was making sure it didn't come through a window or a door or an air vent," she defended. "If there were any of those things, the temperatures would be inacc- inacc-"

"Inaccurate," Naru supplied. Yuzuki nodded vigorously and the man pinched the bridge of his nose again. This was just great. A child who wandered alone because she could defend her actions through logic.

"Yuzuki, you can't just do things like that. You should've told Ayako-san or Brown-san before you went off and did something on our own." he scolded her, making her look down. He couldn't tell if it was in shame or not though.

Everyone watched as the normally proud girl bowed her head. Kazuki jumped from his place on the couch-he and the men had brought in all of the equipment already-and ran to Mai. He grasped her hand firmly for a moment, and then let go.

"Yuzuki-chan," her mother stated softly. "The voice said "play" and "come", right?"

The little girl looked up at her momma and nodded slowly. Then she shifted her gaze back to Naru. "I was only trying to make sure where the voice was coming from."

Naru stopped and took a deep breath. Getting mad at his daughter was not only not going to help him, it was near impossible to do. He could get disappointed with her chosen actions all he liked, though he could never truly stay mad at her or Kazuki for long. It was a moment before Kazuki placed his fingers on the back of his father's hand.

_Father, does this mean the spirit is playful, or should we look into two-time meanings?_ His son's thoughts floated through his head. Naru pondered on that for a moment. The spirit was acting much too quickly, and having disembodied voices would be proof against having a poltergeist in the house, unlike the last case they had taken similar to this one.

Would this case be as simple as he had originally hoped?

_**Naruisawesome: So, about that good news…**_

_**14AmyChan: Should we tell them?**_

_**Naruisawesome: maaaybe…**_

_**14AmyChan: *strikes thinking pose***_

_**Naruisawesome: *laughs* you look ridiculous doing that. XD**_

_**14AmyChan: lol, probably. XDDD**_

_**Naruisawesome: Please review!**_

_**14AmyChan: And keep checking your inboxes for the next few minutes! *wink***_


	4. Chapter 4

_**14AmyChan: And the good news is!**_

_**Naruisawesome: You guys get two chapters!**_

_**14AmyChan and Naruisawesome: In rapid succession!**_

_**14AmyChan: Isn't that awesome!**_

_**Naruisawesome: This chapter is even really long!**_

_**14AmyChan: So, same song, different verse!**_

_**Naruisawesome: We don't own the cannon Ghost Hunt characters!**_

_**14AmyChan: we just own our OCs!**_

_**Naruisawesome and 14AmyChan: Enjoy!**_

"Naru?" he heard his wife's voice, snapping him out of his thoughts. She obviously knew he was thinking long and hard about something.

"We should be more cautious than we planned," Naru stated. "All children should remain with their parents, who should also not split up. No one is to be alone, not until we know what we are dealing with. Understood?"

Everyone nodded in agreement with him except his daughter, who just stood still and kept quiet.

"Yuzuki..." he warned, noticing she didn't give any acknowledge of listening to him. "Promise me you'll stay with your mother and myself at all times."

A few more tense moments passed, and all within the room seemed to note the fact that this was the epic faceoff between two equally stubborn and prideful souls, the only think making the situation more tense being the fact that these two souls were related. Naru, however, had more experience in the realm of patience.

"Fine..." Yuzuki finally stated sullenly. She made her way to the couch before whipping her head around and facing her brother, a frustrated scowl on her face. "Don't even _think_ about it, Kazuki!"

"Think about what?" Souta asked in confusion and curiosity.

Yuzuki turned away from the Chinese boy and walked to her father, taking a stand right beside the dark-haired man. She shot a glare to her brother and pointedly ignored Souta's question, the faintest of blushes dusting her pale face.

"Yasu and Jun-kun won't be back with their research for a while now," Mai stated, attempting to bring the conversation back to the case. Also, she had a pretty good gut feeling that Kazuki had tried to cheer his sister up through some teasing.

Even though he knew the girl did not react the best to that sort of teasing...

"Hm...that is true..." Naru mostly said to himself.

"It seems that kid would rather spend time with _him_ than with _me_." the monk grumbled in the background, pouting that his son was with Yasuhara.

"Don't worry, Uncle Bou-san," Amaya smiled, gaining the attention of the monk. "Daddy says that he's just training Jun-kun in the ways of the prankster, since I don't want to."

"Oh, good Amaya-chan! Don't go into the evil ways of your father!" Bou-san cried dramatically as he drew the little girl into a bone-crashing hug.

Amaya hugged the overbearing monk back for a moment, and then released him quickly. She released peals of innocent laughter, and even Ayako could see that the child was trying not to be embarrassed.

"Brown-san," Naru stated, getting everything back on track. "Have you felt anything in the house?"

Masako took a moment to try and sense the spirit again, but she still found nothing. She gave Naru an apologetic smile. "No, I'm afraid not."

"Fat load of good that was," Ayako muttered darkly. "All that happened was that I got a heart attack."

"I told you I was-"

Yuzuki's statement was left unfinished, on account of the disapproving glare she was receiving from her father. The child pouted, much like her mother, and stared at her legs, kicking them at slight intervals. Naru sighed. What _was_ he going to do with his family?

They hadn't even been there for more than a few hours and his daughter already went off and did something on her own.

"Mai. You and I will show Kazuki and Yuzuki how to set up the equipment. Lin, you and Madoka will show Souta-kun the controls here in base," Naru instructed as he picked up two cameras. Mai followed suit and grabbed another two, while their children gathered up microphones and temperature gauges.

"Amaya-kun, you and the Takigawas will wait here for your father and Jun-kun to arrive with the information. Brown family, you will do another walkthrough of the house."

"Very well," Masako answered, shifting her baby in her arms. She looked over at Amaya and smiled. "Amaya-chan, will you mind watching over Emi for a while?"

The young girl immediately brightened up. She had been disappointed she just had to stay in base. Amaya nodded vehemently.

"Sure, Aunt Masa, I'd love to!"

And so, with extreme caution, Emi was passed from Masako to Amaya, who had Ayako watching over, just in case. The babe fussed for a few moments before settling into the little girl's arms, resuming her nap.

"We'll be back," John stated cheerfully as he and the others left the base behind. Lin immediately got to showing Souta the mechanics and technical aspects of his job. The child retained most of the information extremely well for a five-year-old.

He had listened attentively to his father and not dared to touch anything.

"When they place the camera in a room, it is always best to capture the widest amount of space possible," Lin explained. One of the monitors flickered to life during his concise explanation and showed the image of a room in the house. Lin showed his son exactly what was wrong with this angle before radioing in for one of the Shibuyas to adjust the camera.

* * *

"Move the camera a few centimeters to the right," Lin's voice instructed from the other side of the radio. Naru nodded to Kazuki, whose turn it was to adjust the position.

This was not this first time the Shibuya children had assisted with the company's equipment, and it would not b the last.

Once Kazuki did as he was told, he looked up at his father in question to see if that was good enough or not.

"Good job," Naru stated, earning a brilliant smile from his son. The family of four then made their way down the hall to place another camera.

"I'm never ever gonna break one of these," Yuzuki stated, and Mai felt herself sweat drop.

"I don't know why we told you both that story..." the mother muttered, eliciting a chuckle, a silent laugh, and a smirk from her family.

"Because we wanted to know how you started working for Daddy." Yuzuki reminded her forgetful mother with a glint in her blue eyes.

"Yeah, manipulative jerk..." Mai muttered as she set up the next camera. She was still embarrassed from her daughter's jibe.

"Just think of where we would be now if I didn't." Naru said, smirking, as he came up behind his wife.

"...I hate it when you make a point," Mai stated, her face blasted. It was just one of those things that would never change about her. And Naru would not have her any other way.

"Souta, does the camera look good?" Yuzuki asked into the radio. Said device cackled static for a moment before the boy's response came through.

"Mm...move it up just a bit and then an inch to the right, Yui."

"My name is Yuzuki," the girl growled as she complied with the instructions given to her. "That good?"

"Yup, perfect, _Yui_!" the boy chirruped through the radio. You could just hear the smirk in his voice—which made Yuzuki growl in complete irritation and glare at the device.

"That stupid smelly boy," the girl growled as she kept staring at it. Her mother and brother were sharing a laugh and an entertained smile, while her father seemed to have very little clue as to why his wife and son were enjoying the fact that his daughter was so frustrated with the Lin child.

After all, those two were the more empathetic of the family.

Naru shook his head slightly as he watched his family, deciding not to get into...whatever it was.

"Come on, you three, let's go." he told them after sighing.

"Coming!" came the affirmative from his daughter and wife. Kazuki trailed alongside his family, being sure not to leave their side.

* * *

"Amaya-chan, I'm back!" Yasuhara sang as he entered the base. He was promptly greeted by a baby's wailing.

He had walked in just in time to see Ayako taking Emi from his daughter's little arms. Amaya didn't seem to pay any attention to him though as she was focused on the baby.

"Is she thirsty?" the child asked, concerned over the child's crying. Ayako shook her head as she began to pace the room with the baby in her arms.

"No, the loud noise just startled her," Ayako explained. "She'll quit fussing in a minute."

"Um, hellooooo?" Yasu waved still trying to gain his daughter's attention, but it seemed it was futile.

"Are you sure? Aunt Masa didn't leave a bottle... should I go get her?" the girl asked curiously. Her query, however, was unnecessary, seeing that the Brown mother strode through the door only a moment after the question had been asked.

"Here, I'll take her," Masako stated, not really an offer. With little to no reluctance, the Abe was passed into her mother's awaiting arms, and instantly quieted. The medium was smiling as John finally reached the door, obviously winded.

"What's wrong? Is she okay?!" he questioned, scared something had happened to his daughter for her to cry so suddenly Ayako smiled.

"She completely fine...especially since her mother has her now." she replied, looking at the mother and daughter duo.

"Thank goodness," John smiled as he walked to his family. He wrapped them in a hug and was grateful it was only a false alarm.

"Amaya-chaaan..." Yasu whined for his daughter's attention, which-mercifully-she finally gave to him.

"Oh, hi Daddy!" Amaya grinned as she waved to him as if just realizing he was there. Yasu sighed melancholy.

"Yasuuuu..." Bou-san began. "Where is Jun?!"

The man blinked and laughed nervously. "Oh right... Well we kinda ran into Mai and Naru on the way here, and he wanted to stay with Kazuki."

"Noooo..." the monk moaned mournfully as he promptly went into the corner to grow mushrooms on his head. Everyone else in the room sweat dropped at the sight before returning to conversation.

"Daddy, guess what!" Amaya ran to her father bouncing up and down, ignoring her uncle in the corner.

"You noticed meee!" Yasu stated gleefully, picking his daughter up instantly. Amaya laughed at her father's antics.

"I got to take care of Emi while Aunt Masa and Uncle John went around the house!" she said proudly, grinning.

"That's great!" he stated proudly, grinning as well. The family resemblance was uncanny. Truly uncanny.

"Yeah, but then you made her cry when you came in." Amaya looked at her father in disappointment before wiggling in his arms, indicating she wanted to get down.

"My daughter doesn't love meee!" Yasu cried dramatically as he set his daughter down. He then joined Bou-san in the corner, slowly giving it a depressed feeling. Everyone in the room stared at the corner, wondering if they should leave the men be.

They were interrupted from their pondering by a very frantic Kazuki hightailing it into the base, a mortified look on his face.

"Kazuki, wha-"

"Kazi-kun~! Come back, don't run away from our love!" they heard the Takigawa child's voice coming from down the hallway.

Upon hearing those words, two faces drained of all color and several others looked around curiously. Kazuki sought escape in the depression corner, hiding behind Hoshou, who had been the other face to become pale.

"Did I just hear...?" he began, only to have his son burst into base, a mischievous grin spreading his face.

"Oh Kazuki!" the boy exclaimed looking around base before spotting the person he was searching for behind his father.

Kazuki looked positively mortified as he tried running away from the Takigawa child. Bou-san watched on in horror as he son chased his boss's son with the same amount of humorous awkwardness Yasuhara had chased him with. Kazuki chose Amaya to hide behind next.

"Jun, will you stop it?! You know he doesn't like that!" Amaya stood up for her friend.

"But Uncle Yasu taught me some new tricks," Jun stated, his voice pleading and his eyes mirthful. "Isn't that right, Kazi-kun?"

Kazuki shuddered from behind Amaya, who seemed to have unending patience in this situation. Most likely from having endured it before.

At that moment Yuzuki came running into base, looking for the boy who was harassing her little brother.

"Jun..." she uttered darkly, an aura of fearsomeness coming from her person. The said child stopped his actions and gulped nervously. His dad had always gotten freaked out when her dad said stuff like that. Jun decided it would probably be best to back off now.

"H-hi, Yuzuki..." Jun said, attempting to be casual and failing. He ran for his father when she began striding towards her brother and-inadvertently-himself.

Yuzuki grabbed her brother by the arm from behind Amaya. She turned around to glare at Jun again and took a intimidating step towards him, making the boy jump in fear.

"I, ah... Dad!" Jun called out, making a beeline for his father. He climbed rowdily on top of the man's shoulders and smiled excitedly. "Are you gonna teach me to chant this time?"

Monk immediately perked up at hearing that his son wanted to do something with him. ...Even if it _might_ have just been a way into get out of his early death.

However, the excited look on the boy's face told him that was not the _whole_ reason. Bou-san smiled.

"Which one did you want to know first?" the man inquired, his son having seen him in action before. Jun though about his answer before beaming towards his dad.

"The Kuji chant!" he exclaimed, punching the air with a grin.

"Waoh, that's a lot of energy," Bou-san grinned at his son as he placed a hand on the young one's head. "First things first, do we point chants at people?"

"No!" Jun answered, sticking his tongue out. He already knew this and was eager to learn something new.

"Good boy!" The man praised his son. "Alright, do you know what comes first?" he let his son guess. Amaya watched with interest from the side lines.

Jun pointed comically towards Souta as his answer. "It's Rin," he stated proudly.

Bou-san nodded. "Good. Can you name all of them though?" he challenged his son with a glint in his eyes.

"Kazuki, Yuzuki!" a cry came from beyond the base door, halting all conversation. All turned to see Kazuya Shibuya stride through the door, his equally disgruntled wife coming after him. Worry was more evident on her face, but was not devoid in her husband's. They, of course, had known that Kazuki would have run to the base, but that was not the point.

"What did I tell the both of you before we left to set up?" Naru asked, his voice seemingly level. The twins both showed fear in their own way. Kazuki gulped and Yuzuki's eyes widened considerably.

The twins glanced at each other apprehensively before hesitantly looking at their parents, who were not pleased with them at the moment. Yuzuki, deciding to be the bravest, took a step forward.

"Not to leave your and Mamma's side..." she mumbled, answering her father. "But Daddy, it was Jun who-!"

"Jun-kun should not have been alone in this house either, so while his appearance was not anticipated-" cue glare towards Yasuhara's direction "-it did not give the two of you the right to run off."

The two children looked down in shame, and Mai could not find it within herself to remain annoyed with her children. She knelt down to their level and hugged them.

"You both should know how dangerous this job can be," she reminded gently. "Just be very careful, ne?"

The children nodded as they hugged her back. They looked back to their father, who didn't seemed to be _as_ forgiving about the issue.

"Is there anyone missing from base?" the man finally asked, his eyes not leaving his children long enough to garner an answer for himself.

"Ah, no...everyone is here." John answered when no one did.

"Very well. Yasuhara, what have you learned about the property?" Naru demanded. He finally looked away from his children long enough to settle his glare upon the unfortunate researcher. Or perhaps he was not quite so unfortunate, seeing as he could deflect his boss's glare with the reflection of his glasses. Amaya hid behind her father. She never quite liked those glares of the "Big Boss".

Yuzuki's glares were bad enough when she was angry.

"Ah, right." Yasu nodded, getting down to business.

"This house is actually quite the anomaly. According to library records, this house has been around since the late 1800s, but when we talked with surrounding neighbors, they remember-quite clearly, actually-construction building this house as recent as two years ago," Yasuhara stated. Jun piped up from the side.

"Jira-san gave me a candy called a jaw-breaker!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Awww, no fair!" Amaya pouted then looked up at her father. "I want one too!"

"Don't worry, Amaya-chan, I got you one, too," Yasuhara smiled as he passed his daughter the sweet. It had been carefully stored in his pocket, waiting for the time he could gift it to her.

"Yaay!" Amaya said before snatching the candy from her father. She quickly undid the wrapping before plopping the jaw-breaker into her mouth, rolling it inside with her tongue. She grinned happily when everyone just stared at her. Deftly, Naru cleared his throat to bring everyone's attention back on track after he tore his gaze away from the little girl.

"Right," Yasuhara sweat dropped before looking at his papers once more. "I'm not really sure what's fact and what's fiction with this house. One of the documents I pulled said this was a stop in the Underground Railroad, despite that chain of events happening in America, not here in Japan. Also, one of the written ledgers, documenting who has owned the house, states that Anastasia Romanov and Anne Frank were two sisters living here in 1863. Those two girls have no correlation with each other nor in Japan."

"Well that doesn't make much sense, now does it?" Mai commented from her position beside her kids.

"And you're sure this is validated information?" Bou-san asked, an eyebrow raised in a semi-Naru-esque manner. Ayako hit him upside the head with her purse, causing him to recoil.

"What was that for?" he called out, hissing in pain.

"Don't act like Naru, it's creepy," the miko stated.

All the children—aside from baby Emi, who didn't know what had happened—started laughing. Whether it was because of Monk actions, Ayako hitting him for his actions, or Naru's own raised eyebrow none of the grow-ups were sure. It was probably all of them though.

Though, since laughter _does_ have a contagious property in it somewhere, Emi soon began her peals of giggles that ran through the room. All of the adults shared looks of amusement.

Then the room began to tremble.

The laughter from the kids immediately came to a cease except the happy giggles that were coming from Emi. Each child ran to their parents as the room continued to shake.

As swiftly as possible, chants filled the air. The protective wards of Bou-san, Ayako, and Mai. The fervent prayers of John. Theses thing should have provided a sense of safety and protection. What happened?

The lights cut out.

Emi giggled for a few more tics before opening her eyes and realizing she could not see her mother or father. She gasped quickly, her laughter finally ceased. Frightened whimpers echoed around the room before the lights blinked back to life.

"W-What was that...?" Amaya, surprisingly, was the first one to speak after a few minutes of silence. She clung tightly onto her father's leg.

"I think it's the thing that's dis- disturbing the peace here," Yuzuki stated, one of her hands holding fast to Naru's pant leg and the other firmly encasing Kazuki's. It looked as though the girl had pulled her brother somewhat behind her. Kazuki's free hand had sought out and taken a hold of his mother, who was standing defensively against their unknown assailant.

"Brown-san, did you sense anything?" Naru's voice demanded. The medium seemed to shake herself from her daze long enough to answer.

"No...nothing." Masako breathed in disappointment as glanced at her daughter to make sure she was still alright. Why couldn't she sense anything?

Silence ensued, each person lost in their own thoughts as to what had just happened. A small Shibuya male child ended up looking around the room, confusion-as well as something else-evident on his face. He turned to his sister to try and grab her attention, and saw the true situation of the occupants in the room clearly.

_Yuzuki,_ the child sent telepathically. His sister did not turn to him, but did answer verbally.

"What is it, Kazuki?" Yuzuki asked, still holding onto him and their father.

_What's this stuff on my face?_ he queried, attempting to scrub his face clean with his palm. His twin sister finally turned to look at him properly and looked as though she were going to laugh aloud. She did not, but boy did she feel like doing so in that very moment. That, and perhaps killing whatever did this to her little brother.

"Daddy! Kazuki has-" the young girl snapped her head up to look at her father, but her words died on the tip of her tongue in shock when she saw his face. It had the same thing on it that Kazuki had on his.

"What is it, Yuzuki?" he asked, his entire business demeanor shattered without his knowing. The young girl's eyes went wide in shock, and she suddenly wished she had a camera. A good camera. Luckily for her, Amaya already had one for research purposes.

"Amaya, take a picture of Daddy's face!" the black clad girl hollered, only to hear a shutter click from across the room. The child turned to see her friend already taking pictures. Of Uncle Yasuhara's face. And Uncle Bou-san's face. And Uncle John's face. And Uncle Lin's face. And Jun's face. And...

"Souta!" Yuzuki finally laughed loudly, seeing that not even the half-Chinese boy had escaped the fray. The girl felt like she was going to split her sides from laughing so hard, but she could not stop. It was far too funny. So very amusing. It was hilarious.

"You have makeup on your face!"

_**14AmyChan: Okay, who saw that coming?**_

_**Naruisawesome: I don't think many did.**_

_**14AmyChan: I hope not…**_

_**Naruisawesome and 14AmyChan: *look out at audience* hmmmm…**_

_**Naruisawesome: Well, please review, guys!**_

_**14AmyChan: And thanks for reading this far!**_

_**Naruisawesome: should we explain the kind of makeup every guy is wearing next chapter?**_

_**14AmyChan: *imagines***_

_**Naruisawesome: …**_

_**14AmyChan: *falls over laughing***_

_**Naruisawesome: so… is that a yes?**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**14AmyChan: Okay, so we got some free time—**_

_**Naruisawesome: And now we can bring you—**_

_**14AmyChan: The next chapter!**_

_**Naruisawesome: We don't own any of the Ghost Hunt characters!**_

_**14AmyChan: But we do own our OCs!**_

_**Naruisawesome: Enjoy this uber long chapter!**_

At the girl's words all the males in the room eyes had widened considerably. They looked at Souta before glancing at each other.

All of the women did their best to refrain from laughing, but their efforts were in vain. Every girl who knew enough about the situation to do so ended up laughing. Emi looked on in confusion, her eyes wide from the terror only moments beforehand. Every male in the room scowled except a little bit.

Except Yasuhara.

"Don't I look fabulous, my-Mai?" the male asked, striking a pose and pursing his lips, looking ridiculous. Mai, especially, laughed all the harder.

"Y-Yes! Hahaha, you l-look...fantastic, Y-Yasu!" Mai said between laughing. She then took a good look at her husband before laughing all the more. "O-Oh, Naru! Look at you!" she went into an uncontrollable giggle fit.

The normally pale-faced man was not amused in the least. His cheeks were adorned with a foundation that was far too bronze for his face, rosy blush ranged from his cheekbones to the bottom of his jaw, and-for some odd reason-their _intruder_ had decided to give him a smoky shadow look for his eyes. Most likely to accent of _mysterious_ nature. Mai almost collapsed from laughing so hard.

"Wh-where did all of this come from?" John asked, his eyes-accented with black eyeliner and makeup that should belong on a member of the American band, Kiss-widened once he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. "Th-this couldn't have c-come out of no- nowhere!"

Still laughing but not as hard, Madoka poked her son's and husband's cheeks as she examined the 'exquisite' cosmetics decorating their faces. When Lin gave her a warning glare, it just made her giggle even more.

"Mother..." Souta whined as he swatted her hand away. In the background Yuzuki was still laughing her head off at him.

"I can't help it, Souta-chaaan! You actually look so cute..." she replied looking at his sky blue eye shadow, bright red lips, rosy cheeks, and a tad of eyeliner. Her son only whined even more at her words.

"John's right though...this had to come from somewhere..." Monk started thoughtfully. After a few moments his eyes widened before he sharply looked at his wife.

Seeing as she was currently laughing too hard, she did not notice the quickly approaching footsteps of her husband. Only when his ivory-colored, perfectly pinked-out blush, rosy-lipped face was right before her did she notice. And she still laughed all the harder.

"H-Hoshou, y-you look-ahahaha!" Ayako attempts to say, only to be cut off by her own laughter. Bou-san scowled, an embarrassed blush mixing with his makeup.

"I look like your makeup bag threw up all over me!" the man yelled angrily, though Ayako could not take him seriously. Then, what he had said hit her in the face. As though her makeup bag had...

Ayako immediately sobered up from her laughing high. Her eyes widened in realization.

Without another word, the red head dashed from her place on the couch, making a beeline for the bag in her room. Bou-san stood there for a moment, seemingly waiting for something.

"Three... two... one," he whispered, fingers securely plugged in his ears. On the count of one, everyone realized why. The red-haired miko began screeching loudly, cursing whatever poltergeist had _dared_ to rummage through her already low stock of makeup. She stormed back in the base, face as red as her hair.

"THAT'S IT! Whatever is haunting with place is going down!" Ayako bellowed, holding a few of empty lipsticks and mascara tubes.

In an effort to cheer her friend up, Madoka placed a well-meaning hand on the miko's shoulder. Once she was the object of the woman's fierce glare, the woman grinned. Honestly, being used to Noll glaring at her all the time, Ayako's glares seemed so childlike and cute!

"Cheer up, Ayako, after all," she stated, waving an arm towards the SPR men, who were all trying to find some kind of cloth or other tool to assist them in removing the stains on their faces. "It went to a great cause. I think I gained ten minutes on my life thanks to that!"

As Ayako watched the men, she couldn't help but crack a smile. "Hmm...Maybe you're right, Madoka."

"Mai!" Naru hissed when his wife _still_ hadn't stopped laughing.

"I-I'm sorry, N-Naru," the woman managed between breaths as she continued to laugh. She attempted to take some calming breaths in order to regain a small amount of her composure. She bit her lip as she gathered enough self-control to grab a rag, dampen it slightly with some makeup remover, and begin cleaning up her husband's face.

He was _not_ a happy camper.

Once Mai made sure her husband was devoid of makeup, she moved on to her son, who had a green color palette on his face, making him look like an inverted tree.

She still let out a few giggles here and then as she wiped her son's face clean. She didn't know which one was funnier, but she decided to go with Naru's—one of the reasons being Kazuki was still little so it didn't look as bad as Naru being a full grown man. Never in a million years did she think she'd ever see her husband with makeup on...especially _that_ much. Mai was so glad Yuzuki and Amaya had taken pictures.

"Th-that was..." John finally began, only to let his statement fall short. He looked to the other men-all faces now devoid of makeup-for help in describing the experience. He, for one, felt as though he had been wearing a mask for the past few moments.

"How about we never speak of this again, all right?" Bou-san proposed. He looked around the room for support, obviously not finding any with the still giggling females of the team.

"I-I don't think the girls are going to agree to that, Takigawa-san..." John said to the older man.

"Besides," Masako stated, pausing for a moment to allow herself yet another laugh. "This is in relation to the case. We simply can't forget it."

"Ooh, I love it when you're right, Masako-chan!" Madoka shouted gleefully as she put her makeup remover away. The men scowled at the giggling girls.

"It's not funny, _Yui_!" Souta pouted, crossing his arms with a frustrated pout. This pout only grew when the girl did not rise to his bait.

Yuzuki was too busy looking at the pictures on the camera with Amaya, who took all of them, to pay any attention to the boy. The two girls were giggling in the corner.

"Look, Kazuki looks so cute!" Amaya squealed, all of her attention focused on the camera. Yuzuki looked at her weirdly.

"Kazuki looks like a green oompa loompa!" she declared between laughs.

"He does not; that's mean!" Amaya defended the boy but she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face.

"Hey, look at this!" Yuzuki stated, her attention span having shifted quickly to the next picture. "Jun and Souta look like twins!"

"No way!" Amaya disagreed before looking at the picture herself. She nearly choked on her own laughter. The two boys had been made up like similar Chinese porcelain dolls. Both boys had looked horrified to have their pictures taken.

"Souta, Jun!" Yuzuki called. "Come and look at your faces!" she managed to say before going into a giggle fit once more.

Souta and Jun walked forward, both of their minds turning at high gear. They each stood on one side of Amaya and looked at the offending piece of technology that housed the distasteful images. As the girls continued to giggle, the boys formed a plan, and immediately placed it into action.

"Hey!" Amaya shouted as the camera was lifted out of her fingers and carted off by two males protecting their image. "Give it back!"

"No way! We're never going to give this back to you!" Souta yelled. Then he and Jun began to run around the base when Yuzuki and Amaya started to chase after them, determined to get the camera back.

The camera was expertly passed to the faster of the two sprinters, and Jun made quick work in dashing across the base, out of reach of the girls. As a consequence, of course, Souta was abandoned to a cruel fate. The fate of a hostage.

"Give it back now!" Yuzuki demanded, holding Souta's arms behind his back. He made no move to escape, thinking carefully. He caught Kazuki's glance and sent a pleading look. The young boy nodded before Yuzuki's voice cut through their silent conversation. "Don't even try that, Kazuki. You know what-"

The rest of Yuzuki's reprimand was unheard as she let go of Souta's captured limbs, as if they were burning. She rubbed her palms together in an attempt to get rid of the heat as she glared at all of the boys.

Suddenly, Amaya appeared by Jun-who had stopped-and swiped the camera. The ninja child then made her way to her friend quickly. "I got it!" she cried over and over again.

As Souta and Jun were about to make a grab for the camera again, a dark shadow loomed over Amaya, who was oblivious at first, and took the device from her little hands. Amaya had frozen when she saw the hand.

"No," Naru said, giving the four children a cool glare. "I've got it."

Amaya looked to Yuzuki, as if she would help her in retrieving the camera from her father. A shot hope. Naru had the camera in his hands, and no one was getting in away from him.

"But..." Amaya whimpered, her secret weapon in getting whatever she wanted. Be it information or the last cookie, the whimper almost always worked.

Except for on Uncle Naru, who was skimming through the photographs, eyebrows furrowed.

Seeing the expression her husband was making, it spiked Mai's interest. She walked to him then leaned closer to him, looking at the camera.

"What is it?" she asked in curiosity as she rested a hand on his shoulder.

Wordlessly, Naru allowed his wife to inspect the images over his shoulder. Attempting to ignore the-quite humorous-foreground of the pictures, Mai studied the background, but saw nothing strange at first—

Wait, what was that? Mai squinted at the images on the tiny screen, making sure that her eyes were not deceiving her.

"Naru..." Mai began slowly and quietly. "Is that what I think it is?"

Without giving her a response, the man began to flip through the rest of the pictures, his trained eyes sweeping every depiction for but a millisecond before finding what they were looking for and moving onto the next. He rifled through every digital file in a matter of moments and then stared coolly at the two girls who had been giggling at the pictures a little while ago. He motioned them over and showed them the camera without relinquishing his hold on it.

"Amaya-kun, Yuzuki. Tell me what you see," Naru ordered, observing the two girls as they nervously approached the camera and studied the image.

After several moments of scrutinizing the picture, the two girls finally spotted what they—assumingly—were supposed to be looking for. Amaya gasped and pointed to the blurry figure on the screen.

"What's that?" she asked, referring, of course, to the mysterious figure on screen. Curious and determined, Yuzuki swiped the camera with a sharp "let me see" and rifled through all the pictures.

"It's too clear to be a smudge on the lens, and it keeps moving. There's always a face and a hand," Yuzuki muttered loudly, not seeming to realize that she was sharing her thoughts with the entire group. Everyone let her. "Amaya, I don't think it's a 'what'. It's a 'who'."

Amaya let out a small shriek as she glanced around nervously, then she latched into Yuzuki. The action almost caused the Shibuya daughter to fall over.

"What's with that reaction?" Souta asked from across the room. He had not seen the pictures, but had heard enough to know what was going on. "I thought you wanted to be a paranormal researcher when you got older."

"I don't see it around right now, either," Yuzuki stated, attempting to gather her dignity from her almost-fall. "What about you, Aunt Masa?"

Masako gave Yuzuki a small smile before answering. "Neither do I, Yuzuki-chan. In fact I haven't felt anything since we arrived here...which is odd considering we _know_ something _is_ here."

"So whatever we're dealing with is hiding from our mediums, but showing up on our equipment..." Madoka observed smoothly. She glanced down at her son and offered a smile. Typical of the pinkette. "So.. Who wants to guess how much energy it really has?"

Souta looked up at his mother and flashed a grin before flickering his gaze to his friends.

"Good point, Kazuki," Yuzuki murmured, her eyes showing that she was currently absorbing information the rest of the team was not privy to. The team waited for her to inevitably spill what the young boy had said. They did not have to wait for long. "The spirit doesn't want to show itself to Aunt Masa or me, but came on camera just fine. It can control whatever power it has."

"And that takes a lot of energy by itself," Souta supplied. Yuzuki glared at him for stealing her thunder, but he merely stuck out his tongue in response.

"So this thing is strong. The question is does it want to hurt us or play with us?" Jun asked, looking around at everyone. They all looked at him in shock, and he raised his hands in mock defeat. "All it's done to us so far is make Uncle Yasu look _fabulous_, embarrass the rest of us guys, and make mom really mad!"

"Well, if you say it like that, then it sounds like it just wants to make fun of us!" Amaya exclaimed after tapping a finger on her chin in thought.

"Perhaps that is exactly what it is doing," Lin pointed out, catching the attention of the children, who had taken over the speculation part of the process without truly realizing it. However, the adults knew that they needed to rein in the children-if only for a small bit-so they could think about everything logically and not get carried away.

"A spirit like that could become very dangerous very quickly," Bou-san admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Whether they mean to or not. We just can't let it go unchecked..."

"I agree." Masako spoke up, passing Emi to John since she was reaching for her father. "We should try to get it to crossover before—and if—it gets dangerous."

"So how should we do that?" Mai asked. Everyone looked to her for an elaboration, which she ended up giving. "We have no idea who we're contacting, the history doesn't help at all with this building, and that points to us not knowing a thing about this spirit besides the fact that it's here. Shouldn't we have some sort of idea about what we're going to be facing before we start a séance?"

"Well _of course_, Mai." The medium huffed at her. "I was only saying as much as what needs to be done once we have everything. Speaking of which, Yasuhara should try to see if he can research deeper into things."

Yasu huffed a dramatic sigh before responding.

"Well, I suppose it cannot be helped," he stated forlornly. He turned to his daughter and grinned. "But then I'm taking my secret weapon with me!"

Amaya blinked as she looked at her father. Then she let out a small gasp when she realized what he meant.

"Really, Daddy?!" she asked.

"Absolutely! I need my best research buddy with me, after all," Yasu grinned. Amaya squealed happily and rushed to hug her father, a huge beam on her face. She then looked up at him excitedly.

"When can we get started?" she inquired with enthusiasm.

Yasu laughed sheepishly and looked at 'Big Boss' for an answer to his daughter's question.

"You leave immediately. I don't care how long it takes, but find something comprehensible before you return," Naru ordered. The Yasuhara family nodded and proceeded to walk out of the door, chattering about how they were going to find the information. Naru turned to the rest of the group. "Lin family, I want you three to go through the tapes. Try to pinpoint any of the causes to what just happened, understood?"

The family of three nodded and went to do as ordered. Naru turned back to the remaining members of his team only to be met with his daughter looking at him expectantly.

Naru was had a touch-and-go relationship with the virtue of patience. Concerning his daughter, however, he could outlast her in whatever staring match needed to happen. As such, he waited for her to make the first move and speak.

After a minute or two of her father saying nothing and looking as though he'd never budge, Yuzuki finally gave in.

"Daaaddy." she said with a slight whine.

"Yes?" he asked curtly. He wondered how long it would take her to ask what she wanted. He already knew, but it was a good habit for her to learn to not beat around the bush.

At that moment though, Yuzuki reminded her father of her mother with the way her brows furrowed in frustration and her cheeks puffed out the slightest bit.

"What do _I_ get to do?" she asked her father.

"_You_ are going with Kazuki, mommy, and I to check on the cameras again," Naru answered. He turned to the Takigawa and Brown families. "Takigawas, you are to see what areas of the house you can cleanse before all of this gets underway. And, Brown family, I suspect your child will be hungry soon, so I suggest to head to your room to take care of that."

As the two families nodded at the order and began to do as told, Naru walked to the base door and beckoned for his family to follow him.

"Come on, Yuzuki and Kazuki." Mai told her children as she placed a hand between their shoulder blades and began to guide them out the room.

Once in the hallway, Naru allowed his family to walk beside him. The children remained nearby, and this was what he wanted.

"On this case, you need to tone it down with how often you use your abilities," Naru warned. Yuzuki and Kazuki's eyes widened for a moment.

"What do you mean? Why?" Yuzuki questioned for both her and Kazuki.

"You are both powerful in your own right, and if what we're dealing with knows that, it could try to separate you from the rest of us. Especially you, Kazuki," Naru stated, staring coolly at his son, who flinched. "You know I don't mind when you use your ability to protect your sister, and you've become adept in your control, but for this case, save your energy in case you need it for something series. Understand?"

Kazuki gave a silent sigh after a while, but with a nod, he agreed to his father's wishes nonetheless. Yuzuki looked between Naru and Kazuki in slight disbelief.

"What...about me then?" she asked hesitantly.

"The fact that this spirit is able to hide itself from you is disturbing," Naru said, acknowledging just how fine-tuned his daughter's senses were. "I want you to be on high-alert, just in case we can find something out about how this one works. If the spirit reveals itself to you, I don't want you talking to it recklessly. Once the spirit realizes it can talk to you in particular, he/she/it may try to take advantage. Because you are a child, it will assume you think as such. I want you to be just as cautious, Yuzuki. No more wandering off. Is that understood?"

The young girl opened her mouth to speak before she closed it right after. She wasn't _happy_ about it, but she knew her father knew what was best. He always did, no matter what the situation. Her eyes adverted to the wall beside her and she exhaled deeply, indignantly.

"Yes, Daddy..."

As Naru had watched his daughter think things over, he couldn't help but notice the spark of fire in her blue eyes that Mai had countless times when she was annoyed and didn't want to something but did it regardless. He smirked to himself, and when he heard Yuzuki agree, he felt himself relax a tad bit. Although he knew he would still have to keep a sharp eye on her no matter what she said. He wished she wasn't, but she was a lot like her mother in that aspect. They worried him to death.

"The same goes for you, Mai—no running off." he told her as he and the kids stared at said woman.

In response, she huffed.

"I'm not sixteen anymore," she announced, a furious blush on her face from being embarrassed. Naru raised an eyebrow at his wife, ready to remind her that she had gotten herself in a fair amount of trouble since that time, but his daughter had beaten him to the punch.

"But Mommy, you got in trouble on the last case," Yuzuki pointed out loudly, heaving herself off of the wall. It would not to do get her black dress dirty with some dust from the wall. "Kazuki and Daddy had to get you off the banister while I had to talk to the ghost. Mrs. Yuzuka wasn't very happy with you for some reason and we had to exorcize her because she wouldn't listen."

Mai's eyes widened and she subtly bit her lip in further embarrassment. It was one thing to have Naru embarrass her, but for her own _daughter_ too? Mai glared playfully at the little girl.

"I'm gonna have to get you if you don't stop," she playfully threatened. She, however, should have known that her daughter was always up for a challenge. Any challenge at all.

"And if you don't stop getting into trouble, you're going to give everyone—especially Daddy—a heart attack." Yuzuki retorted with a small smirk.

"That's it," Mai announced, grabbing her daughter by the waist and lifting he in the air, holding her helpless in the air while minding the young girl's dress. "You are going to face the wrath of the mommy tickling monster!"

The little girl couldn't help but laugh and let out small giggling screams as her mother placed her down and began to tickle her tummy. Mai had been able to successfully trap her daughter against her before she could have run away and sought protection from her father.

As the two females bonded through tickle war, the male Shibuyas were discussing the case and its implications. Telepathically, of course.

_Father, you don't think whatever this is will... hurt...any of us... do you?_ The young boy queried, his nervousness obvious to his father.

Naru glanced at his son and mentally sighed at the question. "I'm not sure..." he admitted quietly. "We don't have enough to go by to know for sure."

_I don't think the Brown family should go off by themselves, Father,_ Kazi admitted. This statement elicited curiosity from Naru. The boy had PK, not ESP, so what was his son's logic? _I have an idea, but I can't be sure on it..._

_What is it?_ Naru asked, curious as to what his son's thoughts were, and he pinned Kazuki with a stare.

_Well... in some cases, people believe babies to be a weak link between the realm of humanity and the realm of spirits,_ Kazi thought. His brows furrowed openly in thought. _And you said yourself that most legends and rumors have grains of truth in it, so what if this being is after Emi-chan for some reason?_

_An interesting theory,_ Naru replied. _However, the trouble is in determining where the truth lies in that rumor. We will keep an eye on Emi-kun, but we should also keep our minds open o other possibilities._

_Alright._ Kazuki nodded, and he turned his attention back to his mother and sister.

"Do you surrender?" the elder woman asked as she persisted in the tickling torture of her daughter. The child had the stubbornness of both her parents combined.

"Never!" she cried out, earning more tickling. She squealed in laughter and Naru almost let it show that he did not want to break the two from their fun. Yet he had to. There was work to be done.

Letting go of Kazuki's hand, he walked over to the two. At that moment his daughter had escaped Mai's grasp by inches, all while laughing. He took that chance and looped an arm around the small child's waist, bringing her to dangle at his side. Yuzuki looked like a rag doll with her arms and legs hanging limply in the air.

"Daaaddy!" Yuzuki whined as she turned her head to the side to look at her father.

"We still have a job to do," Naru pointed out. Mai pouted in response as her daughter gained an excited glint in her eye. She squirmed to be put down and Kazuki made his way to his mother.

_Don't worry mom,_ he told her as he grasped her larger hand within his tiny one. His mother looked down in curiosity, her frown quickly being replaced by a giant smile.

Mai quickly bent down and hugged her son tightly.

"Your mom will be just fine," Mai stated with a happy smile as she pulled out of their brief hug. Her hand remained clasped around her son's as they followed the other half of their family. "Besides, I have my Kazuki with me!"

Mai's cheerful demeanor was contagious, and easily caught by her gently smiling son.

Kazuki nodded happily in agreement with his mother. He briefly wondered if Yuzuki would slightly jealous if she saw them. He knew she hated to be left out things even if she _never_ let it show. Although she does get very excited about their father's work.

Almost as if hearing her little boy's thoughts-because she did-Mai gave her son's hand a slight squeeze. Once she got him to look up at her, she nodded at Naru and Yuzuki. "I don't think she's missing out. Besides, you can have something nice for yourself, too. It doesn't need to be all about one person all the time."

Kazuki blinked twice at Mai, who was still smiling down at him. Hearing his sister's voice, he shifted his gaze to Yuzuki and Naru. They were already at a camera, checking on it, a little ways up ahead from them.

"Well, we better catch up to them," Mai sighed dramatically. "Don't want your father to think we're slacking off."

Kazuki looked back at her and grinned. He tightened the grip he had on her hand and began to pull her faster towards his sister and father.

_**Naruisawesome: we really need to keep track of when our chapters stop…**_

_**14AmyChan: yeah… ^^; my bad**_

_**Naruisawesome: well, the readers got a really long chapter, so I don't think they're **__**too**__** angry at us**_

_**14AmyChan: I hope so. You know what would be awesome?**_

_**Naruisawesom: hm?**_

_**14AmyChan: If they reviewed for us. XD**_

_**Naruisawesome: True…**_

_**Yuzuki: *jumps out and yells* HEY! READ AND REVIEW! *is picked up and carried away by Mai***_


	6. Chapter 6

_**14AmyChan: Two chapters in a row again!**_

_**Naruisawesome: wow, new record for us!**_

_***clapping reel***_

_**14AmyChan: *turns off the clapping reel* okay, back to the story**_

_**Naruisawesome: awwww… okay**_

_**14AmyChan: We don't own Ghost Hunt!**_

_**Naruisawesome: *hugging Souta* but we do own our OCs!**_

"What was that for?" a voice-obviously recorded-wafted through the base.

"Don't act like Naru, it's creepy!" another voice responded, still over a recording. The Lin family was watching the scene for the fifth time, attempting to discern the source of the attack.

Souta shifted in his mother's lap restlessly as he watched the screen.

He wanted to say something to break the silence, but he knew his attention was needed on the screens. So the screens continued to hold his attention. Well, at least Yui was laughing on screen. She doesn't do that too often, you know. Normally she smirks or chuckles...

Souta suddenly slapped his cheeks in a reprimanding way and shook his head. What was he doing?! He needed to stay focused! Not think about Yui...and the way she smiles and laughs...

Madoka watched as her son zoned out once more. One eye on the screen and another on her son, she smiled with her obvious restraint showing, finding it much too difficult to continue to resist teasing her son.

Finally, she just had to give in.

"Souta-chan!" Madoka poked his cheek with a grin to get his attention. "What're you thinking about? Hmmm? Does it revolve around a certain black haired, blue eyed girl?"

"N-no!" the young boy vehemently denied, suddenly finding the screens far more fascinating than he had three minutes ago. Almost the entire group was chuckling on screen again. For the fifth time. They had still not found the trigger for the attack

"Awwww, come on! You can tell Mommy!" Madoka cooed, poking both of his cheeks.

"M-Mommy!" the boy cried out, attempting to salvage his cheeks, which were beginning to hurt. He cast a pleading look towards his father, who was still studying the screen. It seemed as though the man were playing the footage frame-by-frame to get the answers needed.

Madoka pouted at her son. "You don't trust your mother then, huh?! Won't tell me anything anymore..."

"I trust you! I trust you!" the young boy shouted frantically, not wanting his mother to cry. What he did not know was that these were huge crocodile tears, meant for extracting any and all sorts of information.

"Then you'll tell your mommy why you were staring at Yuzuki-chan on the screen?" Madoka slyly suggested. Her pout had not diminished, but the fake tears were long gone.

Souta's eyes widened slightly. "Uh...um, well..." Madoka nodded encouragingly for him to continue despite his nervous state.

"Madoka." her husband's voice said in firm, reprimanding tone.

"Did you find anything, dad?" Souta asked quickly, thanking whatever higher being that watched him for his father's-albeit late-rescue. Much to his dismay, the elder man shook his head, indicating they still had no clue.

"Did one of us do something to make it do that?" Souta asked. "We _were_ all laughing, maybe the ghost felt playful with all of the positive energy?"

Lin glanced at his son before bringing his hand to chin and began to think on the little boy's words.

Souta waited eagerly upon his father's thoughts. His eyes were wide in anticipation.

Though his answer wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

"...I'll have to discuss it with Naru and see what he thinks about it." Lin said, oblivious to his son's excitement. Then he looked at the boy and ruffled his hair. "Good work, Souta." he praised proudly.

Though he did not know if he had come up with anything of importance yet, Souta beamed at his father's good word. It had always made him feel more part of the team and more accomplished when his father thought he did well.

The Brown family came back into the base at that moment, their baby being changed, fed, and burped. Emi looked happy as can be but anyone could tell she was fighting sleep.

Following the Brown family was the Yasuharas, and given Amaya's triumphant look, one could deduce they found something. However, the girl was deterred as soon as she saw the babe and she immediately went to Emi's side.

"Aunt Masa, can I hold her?" Amaya asked politely, excitement in her eyes at the thought of holding the baby again.

Masako looked down at the small child and gave a smile. "Alright, but only for a little while." she motioned for Amaya to sit down. "She's starting to get real sleepy."

"Okay," Amaya chirped happily, making herself comfortable before the baby was passed to her. Emi fussed a little during the transition-normal for tired babies-before settling down once more. Her small hands moved everywhere, as if battling the sleep that was fast approaching her.

Amaya giggled at Emi's actions and began cooing at the cute little baby.

Yasuhara watched with a proud heart, but could not resist from poking a little bit of fun.

"Amaya-chaaan, you can't grow up without daddyyyyy!" Yasu complained, carefully hugging his daughter so as to not jostle or disturb the baby in his baby's arms.

The Yasuhara child let out a whine of protest, unsuccessfully trying to wriggle slightly from her father's grasp.

"But Amaya-chaaan, don't you love daddy?" Yasuhara pouted, still not letting go of his baby girl.

Yes, but I'm trying to hold the _baby_! Let me go!" Amaya exclaimed, clearly getting annoyed at her father. Emi watched the little girl even though her eyes would droop every now and then.

Suddenly, the babe let out an adorable yawn, and her eyes refused to open any more. She had fallen asleep.

Amaya gasped when she saw that Emi had fallen asleep. She 'shhh'ed Yasu and quietly called Aunt Masa.

"You and your daddy are holding her very well, Amaya-chan," Masako smiled, keeping close just in case the child really did want to pass the babe back to her. "Just make sure you support her head properly. Your father's already doing that for you, but it's good to keep in mind."

Amaya nodded as she smiled happily up at Masako.

"You're a natural, Amaya-chan." John said amiably, making the little girl's smile widened.

"Thanks, Uncle John!" the girl stated happily as the Takigawa family decided to make their reappearance.

The baby squirmed at the sudden chatter but quickly settled back down when everyone in the room had 'shhh'ed the newcomers, who didn't realized Emi was asleep.

Jun, for one, was not pleased with being shushed. He, after all, absolutely _thrived_ on mass amounts of noise.

But even _Uncle Yasu_ was being quiet. That was a weird sight to see for the little boy.

"It's too quiet!" the small boy finally burst, moving around with energy that he needed to burn. He zipped from one side of the room to the other, wreaking perfectly fixable havoc on the room.

Emi's body suddenly twitched from the noise and she let out a whine of protest.

"Jun!" Ayako whispered harshly to her son, who ran passed her.

The small boy spun energetically to face his mother, an innocent grin upon his face. "Yes mommy dearest?"

"Sit down and be quiet! You almost woke Emi-chan up!" Ayako replied, giving him a stern glare.

"Aw, mom..." the boy muttered, but complied with her wishes. He ran up to his father and hopped up on the man's lap, being none too quiet about it.

"Cheer up, Jun!" Monk said quietly, ruffling the child's hair. "She'll be up before you know it!"

"Promise?" the kid asked, the thought of being able to make noise again making him brighten a little bit.

As the monk was about to answer, he caught a glimpse of his wife secretly glaring at him—daring him to make that promise.

"Ah..." he stammered, hoping something or really anyone would take pity on the terrible position he had put himself in.

Luck must have been on his side because at that moment the Shibuya's came back into base.

"Report," Naru ordered as he smoothly sat in his seat. Kazuki sat upon the man's lap and Yuzuki settled herself in between her father and Souta, while Mai sat on the other side of Naru nearest to Ayako. Even with his child on his lap, Naru was still able to pull out his black notebook and have it poised for the writing.

Madoka sighed, being the first to speak up. "We've listened to the recordings over and over, but we just couldn't find anything... But then Souta-chan had an idea!" she said, her eyes sparkling with pride in her son.

"Well," Souta stated, acutely aware that everyone was now looking at him. "Whatever's doing all of this was probably reacting to something we did, but the only thing I saw was that we were all laughing."

"Ah, Souta-chan's right!" Amaya piped up. When Masako glanced at the girl, she realized that she had spoken too loudly. She covered her mouth with her hand in an 'oops!' kind of way and sent her aunt an apologetic look.

She was so lucky her father had been helping her hold the baby, otherwise young Emi would have toppled out of Amaya's arms and onto the harsh ground. It was for this reason that the medium subtly took her baby back into her arms.

"Hmm..." Naru began as he stared absent-mindedly at Souta, who had propose the idea.

"We'll come back to that in a moment," Naru decided, turning his attention to the Takigawa family. "Did anything of consequence happen while you three were patrolling?"

Monk sighed and shook his head. Whether it was from disappointment or relief, you choose.

"Jun decided he wanted to try a cleansing, Buddhist-style," Bou-san began to explain. Jun beamed with pride while the monk looked exhausted. Proud, but exhausted. "We took him to the room at the end of the hall, and that's where he started."

_**14AmyChan: What do you think Jun did?**_

_**Naruisawesome: I'm not sure. Looks like we'll have to wait to find out**_

_**14AmyChan: all right. XD**_

_**Kazuki: *walks into the middle of the room, writes on a white board***_

_**14AmyChan and Naruisawesome: *watch***_

_**Kazuki: *holds up newly made sign***_

_**Sign:**_

_**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**_

_**14AmyChan: *hugs Kazuki before Naru comes up and takes him away***_


	7. Chapter 7

_**14AmyChan: You guys are so patient!**_

_**Naruisawesome: And we actually didn't go over this time!**_

_**14AmyChan: ehe… ^^;**_

_**Naruisawesome: We don't own the Ghost Hunt cannon characters**_

_**14AmyChan: But we do own the adorable little children!**_

_**Naruisawesome and 14AmyChan: Enjoy!**_

Naru gave a nod of acknowledgement. "How did he do?" he glanced at Jun briefly.

"He did all right, after all, he got a reaction," Bou-san stated, obviously impressed. Jun looked up at his father and grinned at the praise.

Yuzuki's interest spiked up. "What kind?"

"The clock in the room started turning backwards," Ayako stated, her face completely serious. "Hoshou told Jun how to cleanse first, and as soon as he got the hang of it, the clock wound itself backwards until it hit eight o'clock."

Her revelation was met with curious glances from around the room.

"I wonder why exactly it was eight o'clock." Amaya pondered out loud.

"Well, when the clock stopped, there was some writing on the opposite wall," Bou-san mused aloud, gaining the attention of all the people in the room. Naru, in particular, glared at the man.

"Is there any reason as to why you did not mention this sooner?" the black haired man inquired, his annoyance practically _tangible_ in the air.

Monk laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Dramatic effect...?" he asked hopefully.

What he received was one annoyed glare from his boss and an eyebrow wiggle from Yasu.

"My dear Bou-san, was there any need to increase the tension in here?" he asked as he winked towards the monk. Said monk visibly shuddered as all of the children were left confused as to why Bou-san and Yasu were acting funny.

Naru shifted his son on his lap as he let out an exasperated sigh then pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What did the writing say, Bou-san?" he asked.

"Good children go to bed on time," Ayako stated, answering the question which her husband had not. "It was written in crayon all over the wall, in different colors."

"So it's saying to go to bed at eight o'clock?! No way!" Amaya immediately exclaimed as if that was the stupidest thing she had ever heard.

"It seems that way," Yasu stated, patting his pouting daughter on the head as he grinned. "But don't worry, you're in bed by seven anyways."

The little girl pouted at her father. "I do not!"

"Even if you _try_ to stay up late, you just end up falling asleep," Yasu stated, poking his daughter's nose. Amaya only pouted more at her father's antics. "Well, you can look at it this way, you and Auntie Mai can be napping buddies!"

Mai glared at the man while her husband openly smirked. "Ha-ha, very funny Yasu." she wished she was the one sitting beside him so she could pay him back for that.

Her wishes were somehow answered as Amaya pushed her father's hand off of her face. "Nu-uh!" she cried out. "I don't sleep as much as Auntie Mai!"

Cue the crushing of all Mai's hopes that Amaya would rescue her from the persecution of her father. The brunette glared openly at the Yasuharas while Naru seemed to be enjoying his wife's torment. However, they were getting off-track. He cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention once again.

"Yasuhara, what did you find?" he asked.

"A whole new world, actually," Yasu stated, gathering some files that had been previously unnoticed. Amaya-as well-had files in her tiny hands. "According to lore, this house was the home of the fairy godmother, purified by fairies, watched over by guardian angels, and something else that Amaya found."

The father looked towards his daughter, who seemed quite pleased to be revealing this next piece of information.

Amaya stood up straight and cleared her throat, trying her best to make her cute, little self look and act professional.

"Thank you, Daddy!" she began happily.

Yasu gave her a thumbs up as she continued. Obviously, she was thrilled to be the one to reveal his information.

"This report says the house belonged to Rum-ple-stilts-kin," she announced, stumbling a little bit over the name, and beaming as though she had just revealed something essential to the case, though the rest of the team was left scratching their heads.

And of course Yuzuki had to mention how _unlikely_ the information they found was. "Are you kidding me? That's not even possible!" she said.

"But Yuzuki, listen," Amaya stated gleefully as she made her way to her friend. Clearly she had her father's zeal for research. "The 'past' on this house changed from the last time! But last time, only two people were named clearly!"

_Is she talking about Anne Frank and Anastasia?_ Kazuki asked telepathically. Since he was sitting in his father's lap, his thoughts came through-albeit hazily-into the elder man's head.

_It would appear that way._ Naru replied to his son. _She actually does have a point though._

"Rum-ple-stilts-kin is a story about a goblin wanting to have a baby. Because he couldn't have one, he was going to take one from a woman who owed him, but he told her she could keep the baby if she guessed his name right," Amaya explained, her eyes a glint. If she wore glasses, she would definitely look similar to her father at this point. "Anne Frank and Anastasia both died as kids, and when Jun tried to cleanse the room down the hall-!"

"Wait!" Yuzuki interrupted as she reached a hand out to Amaya as if saying to stop. "Are you saying you think Rumple-stilts-kin," she also stumbled with the word. "...is going to kidnap us kids or something?"

The silence that followed was so deafening, one could hear a pin drop. The adults around the room exchanged glances, silently discussing what was to be done. Souta furrowed his brow and was the first child to put that theory down.

"If kids _actually_ went missing in this building, don't you think more people would remember it?" he asked, crossing his arms. "After all, the first time Uncle Yasu went out to get information, he also went around and asked the neighbors about the house. Did any one of them mention knowing this house for longer than five years?"

Amaya rolled her eyes. "Come _on_, Souta-chan! Who said it had to be _this_ house? It could've been another house that was torn down years ago! Or it could even be this piece of land!" the little girl tried to convince everyone, sticking up for her theory.

Souta stopped for a moment and considered Yuzuki's theory. He did not want to be the one to put a damper on her theory, but a curse towards children attached to a bit of land would arouse rumors.

"Or someone's playing a joke on us," Jun stated loudly, the oppressive silence finally getting to him again.

Amaya couldn't help but huff in annoyance. Apparently no one was on her side.

"I can go back to the library in the morning," Yasuhara offered, seeing as the sun was beginning to set. "Maybe the 'history' will change again, and give us more to work with."

Naru sighed and agreed that it was too late to go that day.

"Very well. Lin, set the recording for the cameras, and everyone can get to bed. No midnight wandering," Naru instructed, and upon his last statement, every eye lay on one of two people. One of them was, of course, Mai. The other was the next generation of prankster.

"Can I at least make some noise?" Jun asked, attempting to make a situation where half of the eyes were on him funny. His pleading eyes led to the his father ruffling his hair.

"When we get to the room, you can make some noise while getting ready for bed," Bou-san stated with an impish grin. Jun frowned.

"You promise?"

Once again Ayako glared at her husband daring him to promise that. She had a look in her eyes that said he'd definitely regret it if he agreed to that.

"Err...you'll have to ask your mother about that..." Monk answered his son.

"Please mom?" the young guy pleaded, giving her illegally cute eyes and a face she could not possibly refuse.

"Ah...um..." Ayako averted her eyes away from Jun, and when she glanced at him again, she sighed in defeat. "Fine...

"YATTA!" Jun cried out happily as he dragged his parents from base to get ready for bed. The display was chuckled at until a not-so-small yawn rang through the room.

"Alright young lady," Yasu said with a small, knowing smile. "Time to go to bed, I think." he told his daughter.

"But... I'm not..." Amaya's protest was interrupted by yet another yawn. She grumpily fought her tired eyes from closing, but it was a losing battle. "...sleepy..."

"Of course you're not," Yasu said with a knowing grin. He picked his daughter up off the couch and bid good night to the rest of the team. Kazuki waved them off with a smile while most everyone else verbally acknowledged the departure of the researching family.

After a few moments Madoka turned to her son. "Souta-chan...time for you to go too, don't you think?" she asked already knowing he wouldn't want to.

"But mooom," Souta pouted, furrowing his brow. Then, an idea hit him square on the noggin and he smiled hopefully. "Well, can I stay with dad so he can show me how to set the cameras to record?"

Madoka placed her hands on her waist and gave him a stern look.

"Now, Souta..."

"Can I, Dad?" the little boy turned to his father with a pleading look, ignoring his mother altogether.

Lin did not say a word, but rather turned around and pressed a single key on the keyboard, turning on the recording for the night. He then faced his son and gave a slight nod of his head, urging the young boy to comply with his mother's "request".

Souta's shoulders slumped a bit and his head hung down as he walked closer to his mother.

"'Night, Souta!" Yuzuki shouted as the Lin family left the base.

When Yuzuki turned her attention back to her family, she blinked in confusion when she saw her mother and brother staring at her in slight surprise. Then they flicked their gazes to the door for a brief moment before looking back at Yuzuki.

"What?" she asked.

"N-nothing," her mother said swiftly, though her brother's thoughts had already revealed the source of their confusion. Yuzuki narrowed her eyes dangerously and was about to speak when—

"It seems as though Emi-chan needs to be put in her crib," Masako stated, effectively breaking up the soon-to-be disturbance before it even happened and whisking her family from the base at the same time. "We shall see you in the morning."

With that, the only family left in base was the Shibuyas.

"Well..." Mai began staring at her two kids expectantly. Yuzuki stopped glaring at her brother—although reluctant—and shifted her eyes over to Mai at hearing her voice. Then she suddenly understood what her mother wanted.

"Noooo!" the black-haired girl shrieked as she clung onto her father's arm, pouting at Mai.

"I wanna stay here with daddy!" she continued to shout, convinced that her father would stay up late and review what they had on the case, something her mother complained about constantly. She was severely disappointed when Naru stood to lead his children out of base and towards their room.

"This case does not have enough information to warrant the additional categorizing that is usually necessary for a case at this point," Naru stated. Yuzuki let go of her father and dug her heels into the ground, glaring at the man for betraying her. Kazuki chuckled silently at his sister's reactions. _This_ was exactly why his sister was not a morning person.

_Come on, Yuzuki. Let's go._ Kazuki telepathically told her sister. He followed Naru, going to the base door.

The girl stubbornly refused to move, causing Mai to sigh as she took action to rectify the situation. She moved closer to her daughter and paused a moment, knowing full well that the girl had her father's tenacity about the strangest things.

Without much warning, Mai darted forward in a move-long since perfected-to take out the girl's legs and pick her up. Like always, the girl went down with a lot of huff, a touch of struggle, and a sour attitude.

"Mommy... What was that for?" Yuzuki huffed as she gazed up at her.

"_That_ was to get you out of the base and into our room so you can get some sleep," Mai cheerily explained, following her son and husband out of said room and into the other aforementioned room. Yuzuki was not pleased.

"But I'm not tired." she told her mother.

"But if we let you stay up late, you won't get up in the morning and you'll miss watching the recordings," Mai explained, never-in a million years-having thought she would be having a battle of wits with her daughter over going to sleep. Much less would she have imagined it would turn into the nightly routine it has become.

Yuzuki opened and closed her mouth a few times, debating over what she should do. She did not want to go to sleep...although her mother was right.

"Yuzuki, it's time for you and Kazuki to get ready for bed," Naru instructed as he closed the door behind his wife and daughter. Kazuki already seemed to be in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, meaning that he was somewhere ahead of his sister. While this was a commonplace occurrence, it by no means meant that the stubborn daughter would accept herself being anyplace other than first.

Yuzuki ran into the bathroom to—do what Mai hoped—brush her teeth like her brother.

As their children prepared for bed, Mai and Naru made themselves comfortable, waiting for the twins to return and relishing in an actual quiet moment alone. Mai rested her head atop her husband's shoulder and Naru, in turn, was holding her hand, rubbing his thumb against the familiar crevices of her knuckles.

Their quiet, relaxing moment didn't last long though because they soon heard a one-sided vocal argument coming from the bathroom. Naru sighed while Mai chuckled softly.

"Nu-uh, Kazuki," the small girl's voice could be heard vehemently denying whatever it was her brother had mentally said through her toothpaste.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Mai asked her husband quietly in an amused tone.

"Given the day's events," Naru began as they heard yet another protest from their daughter. "He's probably making some comment on her behavior towards Souta-kun today."

Mai giggled slightly and moved her head a bit to look up at Naru. "So you did notice, ne?"

"She's my daughter, of course I am going to notice whenever she behaves abnormally around a boy," Naru stated stubbornly, his protective nature shining through, even though said children were only five years old. Mai sweat dropped a little bit, worrying for the eventual safety of little Souta Lin.

Both of the twins came running back into the bedroom a second later. They went to their parents and piled on top of them.

"Kazuki says he wants you to read him a story!" Yuzuki declared as she scrambled on top of her father's shoulders. Kazuki, sitting relatively calmly on his mother's lap, rolled his eyes, and Mai could hear some faint disagreement from her son in her head. Mai smiled at her children's antics and looked towards her husband.

"What do you think we should do, Naru?" she asked playfully.

The man glanced at his two kids, who were waiting expectantly for an answer, with a glint in his eyes. He turned back to Mai, sending her a secret, knowing message with his look.

"I think we should give them what they want." he answered.

"Do you want to tell them of how Sally the Spider made friends, or how Jack the Rabbit lost the race again," Mai asked, purposefully picking two of the type of stories Yuzuki loathed listening to. Absolute baby stories. Kazuki never truly cared, but had a certain love for stories that were from England. Given that these were neither, the young boy could probably live without listening to them.

The look of absolute horror on Yuzuki's face made Mai's split into a mother like grin. How she loved to mess with her children.

"No, no, no!" Yuzuki practically shouted, tightening her grip on her father. "Anything but _those_ kind of stories!"

"Then you should probably go to sleep before I start telling them," warned Mai with a sly smile. Naru shook his head with a smile-the one reserved for ONLY his family and NO ONE ELSE EVER got to see it. He never knew how his wife became so devious towards their children. Perhaps it was a mother's thing.

With the intelligence of her father, Yuzuki paused for a moment as realization stuck her at what her mother was trying to do.

"Oh, no, it's not going to-!" Yuzuki began to thwart her mother's plan when she sneakily pulled a bag out of her backpack. In baby blocked handwriting sat the title Sally the Spider Makes Friends. The little girl looked on in horror as her mother flipped to page one, which held an adorable illustration of a tiny black spider sitting on a pretty pink stool.

"Once upon a time, there was a lovely little spider, and her name was Sally..." she began. Naru watched on in humor, Kazuki already having transferred to the man to avoid his sister's explosive and horrific thoughts, mimicked his father's actions.

Yuzuki released Naru and covered her ears with her little hands, determined not to hear the 'baby story' as she called it. She felt a twang of betrayal that her mother would bring such a book when she knew she hated it.

"Noooo! Fine, okay, just stop!"

"Okay," Mai chirped happily as she watched her daughter move slowly towards the bed that she and Kazuki were sharing. No doubt the twins would end up between Naru and Mai yet again, but it was better they started off in their own bed for the beginning of the night. Once the young girl was in bed, Mai led Kazuki to the other side of the bed and shut the book with a very firm _snap_. She set the book aside before tucking the Shibuya children into bed.

"Good night, love you," Mai smiled as she kissed both of the children on the head.

The twins said their goodnights to her as Naru leaned down and did the same as Mai did.

"'Night, dad," Yuzuki spoke on behalf of both herself and her brother. However, by that point, Kazuki had already passed out and would probably be up with Naru at insane hours of the morning. Yuzuki, on the other hand, would notably toss and turn until finding the perfect position for sleep before crawling out of bed and running stealthily to her parents' bed. Of course, Kazuki would hazily follow only a minute afterwards and fall asleep on Naru and Mai's bed.

But that would all happen later. For now, the two were lying on the bed, going to sleep, leaving their parents to attempt the same thing.

"She's as stubborn as you are sometimes," Mai whispered to her husband, a smile on her face telling him that it was not entirely a bad thing that she had inherited her father's stubborn nature.

"And she's as loud as you are," he returned with a straight face. Mai pouted in return, though made no move to be any louder than the level with which they were carrying their conversation. Any louder, and they would gain the immediate attention of their children.

Mai watched her two babies with a soft smile, not even attempting to move. That is until Naru grabbed her hand and began to drag her to their bed which isn't far away at all. Mai's pout deepened.

"We need to try and get some sleep while we can." Naru replied quietly as he began to slip under the covers. "We both know what they're going to do later on."

"I know," Mai resigned. So, when they were properly situated, she snuggled up close to her husband with a small smile, which she fully directed at him. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Mai. Now go to sleep," Naru stated to the woman he had collected in his arms. With his wife comfortable and happy and with the twins bound to eventually crawl into bed with them, Naru allowed himself a small amount of relaxation. This time, it took Yuzuki an hour before she climbed on her parents' bed and drifted to sleep. Kazuki waddled over only moments later and followed suit.

And thus, the Shibuya family finally fell asleep.

_**Naruisawesome: awww, Naru and Mai moments!**_

_**14AmyChan: Tiny, but they are there~!**_

_**Naruisawesome: So what do you guys think of the case?**_

_**14AmyChan: What do you think will happen next?**_

_**Naruisawesome: Leave your comments**_

_**14AmyChan: in the box below! *^_^***_

_**Naruisawesome and 14AmyChan: Please read and review, everybody!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**14AmyChan: A touch of a longer chapter**_

_**Naruisawesome: *looks pointedly at 14AmyChan***_

_**14AmyChan: ehe... ^^;**_

_**Naruisawesome: We don't own the cannon characters**_

_**14AmyChan: But we do own this nextgen!**_

_**Naruisawesome: enjoy!**_

Early in the morning, the silent man who goes by the name of Lin carefully began to slip out of bed so he wouldn't disturb his sleeping wife and son.

Unfortunately, this effort was half-futile, as Souta soon followed his lead out of bed groggily. The small Lin trailed after his father as he prepared for the day.

The eldest of the family chuckled softly as he watched his son stumbled around the room half awake.

"Souta..." he called quietly not wanting to gain the attention of his wife also."Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"No," the boy yawned as he stumbled around a little more, somehow gaining his bearings. "I wanna help you with the recordings..."

Lin sighed knowing that if he forced Souta to go back to bed then he'd just follow him the second he stepped out the room anyways. So what choice did he have?

Seeming to sense his father's resignation as well as its cause, Souta grinned. The same victorious grin his mother usually wore.

Without much more time being wasted, the Lin men got ready for the day and made their way to base.

Lin knew Naru was more or less probably having the same situation happen with Kazuki—if they weren't already in base that is.

"Hey dad?" Souta asked as he shook his head to rid himself of the sleep that still lingered in his eyes.

"Yes, Souta?" he replied as they neared base.

"When did you get your first _shiki_?" the young boy inquired, his own query somehow waking him up a little more. He truly wanted to know.

Lin had to think back—it was such a long time ago.

"If memory serves right...I was about fourteen." he told his little boy.

Lin had his son's rapt attention with each word he spoke.

"How did you get them?" Souta questioned curiously.

"For my first, I had to weaken it considerably, and then I offered it a deal," Lin explained to his son. Souta watched with wide eyes.

"What was the deal?" he questioned.

The man glanced at the boy, who walked right beside him, hesitating to answer.

Souta felt as though he could not wait much longer for said answer.

At that moment though they finally reached base. Lin opened the door and placed a hand between Souta's shoulder blades to guide him into the room. Though he knew he had to say something—_anything_—or his son wouldn't stop looking at him.

"My first deal was to allow the demon to work off its guilt in exchange for being tethered to me. The power of that first demon became my shiki and is my most valued to this day," Lin finally said, giving his sin the extremely condensed version of a long story best saved for another time.

"Wow..." Souta commented, still staring at his father. That is until one of his friends, who was already at base, caught his attention.

Kazuki had spent the better portion of a minute poking Souta, attempting to get the boy to respond.

He was able to succeed...finally.

"Oh, hey, Kazuki!" Souta grinned then slung an arm around the other boy's shoulder.

Kazuki smiled warmly upon finally being recognized before leading his friend to the monitors, which he and his father had been viewing before the Lins had come into the room. Kazuki gave Souta a set of headphones and motioned to the last monitor available for viewing.

"So did you and Uncle Naru find anything before we came in?" Souta asked quietly after a while of reviewing the tapes.

Kazuki nodded and pulled up a few photographs on the screen as well as their corresponding temperature readings. He showed Souta pictures of each of the rooms, taken within seconds of each other.

Souta raised an eyebrow in surprise as he studied the pictures.

He looked from one picture to the next; studiously looking for the common theme that could be the reason Kazuki had picked these pictures out specifically. After a few moments of searching, he finally found one of the underlying themes.

"The temperatures are all 18 degrees Celsius or 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit..." the boy noted before turning to his friend, eyes confused."So?"

Patiently, Kazuki gestured to the photographs once more, silently telling Souta that he had missed something in his first examination. So, trusting his friend, he went back to look for a second round.

The Shibuya male twin smiled encouragingly when his friend looked at him, once again, confused. He nodded towards the pictures again while Souta sighed in slight frustration.

"I don't see what you're telling me, Kazuki," Souta admitted. Deciding to take slight pity and just show the boy what he saw, the brown haired Shibuya indicated to each of the sleeping children on the screen. It took the Lin boy a second to see it, but see it he eventually did. "Are the cameras _hazing_ the kids out?"

Kazuki's smile widened and he nodded happily that his friend got it right.

"But why would it do that for?" Souta asked.

Kazuki shrugged, showing he had no clue. He grabbed the nearest yellow pad and began to write in a messy scrawl. For a five-year-old, the boy had quite the excellent script. Once he had finished, he passed the note to Souta.

_I'm hoping that either the adults or Amaya-chan can tell us._ The note read.

Souta nodded in agreement, knowing how well Amaya's observation skills were. Between the children, Amaya and Kazuki were the best in that department.

"Uncle Naru didn't know either?"

Kazuki took to the pen once again. _I asked dad if he could give us a shot at trying to figure this one out. He said he would step in if it got too dangerous._

Souta's mouth then formed into an 'o' after he finished reading the note. When he didn't know what to say, he glanced behind him at his father and Naru.

The two men were looking over other footage and taking notes, still conducting their own investigation. Souta shifted his attention back to his friend.

"So, they're still doing their investigation, we'll do our investigation, and at the end of the day we'll compare notes?" the half-Chinese boy asked. Kazuki nodded as two more early risers entered base.

"I should've known you two would've been up before anyone else." Amaya stated as she spotted two of her friends. Her father walked to Naru and Lin while she went over to Souta and Kazuki to see what they were up to.

Kazuki's face began to sport a light pink as he tapped Amaya on the shoulder lightly. He then directed her attention to the screen, showing her the photos he had just shown Souta.

"Ooh, you guys found something!" Amaya exclaimed excitedly then she began to study the pictures as Souta had done before.

Amaya first glanced at the temperatures, knowing that when dealing with the paranormal, cold spots could help them look for clues. Her dad had told her the tales of SPR cases since before she came out of the hospital to go home. Bedtime stories from the greatest detective of one generation to the next, he would tell her.

"Why are all of the temperatures exactly the same?" she questioned aloud, looking to her friends.

"Well, obviously it's the spirit's doing, Amaya." Souta replied, acting as if he had gotten the correct answer right the first time and she was just a slow.

"If it was just the spirit appearing, then the temperatures would have been different, at least by a few d—decimal places," Amaya said, looking closely at each image. "But all of these are _exactly_ the same, in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Not a single change."

"Oh...right." Souta gave a nervous laugh. "So you're saying the temperature readings were sab-o-taged...or something along those lines?"

"That could be right, but..." Amaya paused for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows. "What if the spirit is playing with us? Pulling a prank?"

"Like with the makeup?" When Souta received a nod he continued. "It seems like a...lame prank. I know if Jun was here he'd say the same."

Amaya shrugged in response before moving back to the pictures. She looked over each of them before stopping at Kazuki's and giggling a little bit. After a second of giggling, she stopped and peered closer, focusing intently on Kazuki's sleeping image on the screen.

Not noticing a light blush on Kazuki's cheeks, Amaya furrowed her brows as she realized the boy on the screen wasn't seen clearly—well, as clear as it can be on the monitors. The figure seemed _misty_, for lack of a better word.

"Kazuki, did you and Souta mess with the image before I came in?" Amaya asked, still not peeling her eyes from the screen.

Kazuki quickly shook his head to assure that they didn't, causing the young girl to hum in acknowledgement.

"Well, your pinkie is missing in this picture," she announced, causing the boys to crowd around her in curiosity.

"How would _that_ happen?" Souta asked glancing between Amaya and the screen.

"How could what happen?" a new voice yawned from the doorway. Three miniature heads turned to see Jun walking into the room, sleepily scratching at his head.

Amaya sighed noticing who was the last one missing from the five friends. "And Yuzuki-chan's the last one to wake up again." she mumbled.

The others nodded in agreement, some degree of amusement or playful exasperation on their faces.

"When is she gonna wake up, Kazuki?" Amaya slightly whined, missing her friend and getting tired that she's the only girl.

The boy in question jotted down a note and passed it to his friend. It read _when mamma gets up, Yuzuki will wake up._

Amaya let out a breath and looked around the room after reading the note. Her eyes landed on her uncle Naru.

"Auntie Mai should reaaaaally get up about now." she said loud enough to get everyone's attention. When all eyes were on her, her serious expression didn't falter.

"If you believe I was not listening in to your conversation and that I already know you are trying to manipulate me into waking up my wife to awaken my daughter so you may see her soon, then think again," Naru stated calmly. Most of the children were frightened with how well he pegged them. Kazuki was used to it.

Amaya scooted closer to Kazuki and quickly hide behind him as if he would protect her from his father.

Kazuki froze for a second, wondering if he should 'talk' to Amaya. He had not done so to anyone outside of his family since the incident that had taken his voice. He was about to reach his hand out and tell her it was all right when-

"You guys are so loud! Can't awesomeness sleep without being woken up!?" a familiar voice griped from the doorway. Everyone turned to see a very sour Yuzuki and somewhat sleepy Mai enter the room, the latter trying to quiet the former.

"Yuzuki, please be quiet, it's too early to be yelling..." Mai mumbled, shuffling across the room to join her husband by the monitors. Sleep was very much evident in her voice.

"Don't tell me, tell the smelly baby!" Yuzuki shouted, eliciting curious responses from the surrounding paranormal investigators. To ease up confusion, Mai explained.

"Looks like something woke up Emi-chan. John and Masako have been trying to calm her down for the past fifteen minutes," Mai yawned. Naru checked the time out of habit. It was 6:23 now, so Emi must have been woken up at 6:08.

Quite a feat for the record Mai held. Her and Yuzuki both.

"Ah! Yuzuki-chan!" Amaya couldn't hold her excitement any longer. She ran to her friend, who she had missed dearly, and tackled her with a hug—which led to a certain little boy feeling disappointed. "You're here!"

"I can't breathe, Yasuhara!" Yuzuki snapped. Amaya sweat dropped. The black-clad girl was always volatile in the mornings, and often snapped at everyone around her until after breakfast.

Amaya slowly took a step back and made her way back to Kazuki. She went back into the same position she was in when she was hiding to hide from Naru.

Kazuki bushed with a small smile before turning to his twin. He grabbed something and tossed it to the girl. Yuzuki turned the item over in her hand and nodded in satisfaction. Her brother had tossed her a honey-flavored granola bar of her favorite kind. She munched on it as she walked over to meet her friends, visibly calming down into her normal, cool demeanor.

"Have you found anything?" Yuzuki asked, now fully awake and getting down to business. Meanwhile Mai was nodding back off to sleep; her head tilting sideways, inching closer and closer to land her husband's shoulder.

"A couple of oddities, but seemingly no real relation," Souta answered quickly, his mouth soon forming into a mischievous smirk. "Unless you can see something we didn't, _Yui_."

"Oh, you mean like the fact that the smelly baby's foot is missing?" Yuzuki asked, her face completely serious. Everyone else turned to the picture in question to affirm the statement's authenticity. Emi's left foot had been completely hazed out of the image.

"How did you guys miss that?" Jun pondered aloud, a mischievous grin on his face.

Souta directed a glare towards Jun as did Amaya. "Are you saying that _you_ noticed it then?"

Jun placed his hands up in a defensive position, chuckling all the while. "Ehe... so what does Emi's foot being gone mean?"

_And why was only her foot hazy when all of me was?_ Kazuki wrote down for all of his friends to see.

"Well, _technically_, all of her is hazed out like the rest of us," Amaya corrected, pointing out that all of the children were hazed out of their photos to some degree or another. "It's just that Emi-chan's whole left foot has been hazed out so much it's like it's not there at all."

"The plot thickens," Jun said mysteriously, his hands raised theatrically.

Souta raised an eyebrow at Jun. Amusement shone in his eyes as he looked at the others with a small smile.

"Aside from why _we're_ hazed out," Yuzuki began, gaining everyone's attention again. "Why aren't Mommy and Daddy and the rest of the adults hazed out also?"

"Maybe the ghost is _focusing_ more on the adults," Jun laughed. The rest of the team rolled their eyes at his pun. Before more could be said, however, four humans entered the room. Three on their feet and one being carried.

"We apologize if Emi woke any of you," John apologized, his innocent-like smile having a chorus of 'no problem's ringing throughout the room in no time. Madoka made her way to her husband and looked over his shoulder at the images on his screen. They immediately went into quiet conversation.

"Huh?" Mai asked groggily, lifting her head from Naru's shoulder when she heard all the new commotion.

"It seems as though Mai needed her own personal pillow to return to sleep," Masako snubbed a bit, chuckling as Mai immediately woke up completely and Naru's eyes narrowed. Even though she and Mai were no longer love rivals-if you had not picked on that before, being married to two different guys and starting families and all-it was still quite enjoyable to rile up the easily flustered brunette.

"It's not my fault," Mai complained, returning to Naru's shoulder. Not that he was complaining. "I kept hearing some shuffling noises. They kept waking me up..."

Naru glanced at his wife from the corner of his eye. He furrowed his brows in slight confusion as he recalled what Mai had said. It was very odd considering how much of a heavy sleeper she was. She had even slept through the children running around the house and Yuzuki yelling at her brother countless of times before, but she woke up this time just because she heard some 'shuffling noises'?

Naru catalogued this information away, not entirely sure if it would come up later in the investigation.

"Yasuhara, you and Amaya-kun make a return trip to the library, see if anything has changed," the boss ordered. He got a playful salute and an eager nod in return before the Yasuhara family vacated the premises. "Takigawas, check the temperatures on the east side of the building. Check for any discrepancies."

Ayako huffed, murmuring complains that it was 'too early for this'. She stood up with Bou-san by her side. "Fine, come on, Jun." she called her son.

The prankster boy instantly glued himself to his parents' side and proceeded to follow them out of the door, leaving the Browns, Lins, and Shibuyas in base.

"Brown-san, would you..." Naru began to ask Masako then flicked his gaze to the baby in her arms. "...be able to walk around the house again today to try and sense anything?"

"Seeing as the base is better protected than the rest of the house, I would like for Emi to remain in here whilst I try to sense around the house," Masako stated, looking around for someone to hold Emi and would be in the base while she did her rounds with her husband.

Once again, Mai lifted her head from Naru's shoulder. "Oh, here, I'll take her Masako." she told the medium as she made her way towards them.

Masako weighed her options for a moment before trusting her friend with her child. The brunette knew that if anything were to befall Emi while Masako was out on her rounds, there would be Hell to pay.

"I trust her in your care, then," Masako said politely. Once the baby was transferred, Mai instantly jolted herself awake and the Brown parents left the base to do another walkthrough.

Mai bounced the baby slightly when she began to fuss at seeing her parents leave. Mai softly soothed Emi as she walked back to her seat beside Naru. Meanwhile Yuzuki scrunched up her nose, realizing the smelly baby was staying at base. She had hoped she wasn't.

Kazuki prodded at his sister a little, intentionally annoying her simply because he could. Hey, brothers are brothers, no matter the age.

Yuzuki let out an irritated growl when her twin wouldn't shut up. She kept telling him to, but it was futile.

Kazuki left his finger on his sister's arm at that point, teasing her within their minds.

"Kazuki, shut up already!" Yuzuki verbally hissed, which just happen to be loud enough for her parents to hear. She pushed his finger away from her.

The boy, sensing he had done enough damage for now, raised his hands in a surrendering motion before wandering over to his mother, who was still holding Emi. He looked quite intrigued with the baby and a sense of innocent wonder filled him. A contrast to his sister, who stuck up her nose.

Of course this didn't go unnoticed by her keen father though. He glanced at his daughter before his eyes swept over to the baby beside him.

Kazuki, ever observant, had caught his father's visual sweep. He sent a questioning look to the man.

The little boy placed a hand on Naru's arm when he seemed too deep in thought to realize the look his son was giving him.

_What is it, Father?_ Kazuki asked.

_It's nothing for now,_ Naru reassured his son, building a wall around the hypothesis his mind was in the midst of forming. "As Mai is looking after Emi-kun, Yuzuki and Kazuki will accompany Madoka in gathering the west-side temperatures."

Madoka's ears perked up at hearing this. It wasn't too often she ever got paired with the twins so she was happy to obliged.

This left Naru, Mai, Lin, Souta, and Emi left in the base. It soon became quiet, which was fine for the men and the napping baby in the room, but for Mai, it would not do.

"So.. Souta-kun, how's your training coming?" Mai asked, wanting something to talk about.

Souta moved his gaze away from the monitors to look at his Auntie Mai, as did his father and Uncle Naru. The woman could never keep quiet, a trait that Yuzuki—surprisingly—took after her mother.

The half Chinese boy smile. "It's going really well. Dad says I'm improving a lot."

"That's great," Mai smiled, shifting Emi in her arms, either ignoring or not noticing the looks she was getting from her husband and Lin. "Madoka told me that you helped to create some of the charms around the base this time around."

Mentally, Souta gave a slight roll of his eyes at the mention of his mother, most likely, bragging again. Although visibly he just nodded. "Yeah, I did a few of them by myself once I got the hang of it more."

"That's really cool, Souta-kun," Mai smiled slyly. "She also told me that you made personal charms for everyone on the team."

Naru glanced at Souta when he saw his wife's smile widen into a grin as the boy immediately stiffen and his cheeks began to turn a small amount of pink.

Lin observed everything passively, unsure whether or not to save his son from Mai. However, if Naru got involved, there would probably have some rescuing to be done. He could see the suspicion in his former charge's eyes.

"Can I see them?" Mai asked happily.

_**14AmyChan: lol, teasing the characters is so much fun!**_

_**Naruisawesome: haha, poor Souta...**_

_**14AmyChan: Well, we hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! *^_^***_

_**Naruisawesome: Please read and review!**_

_**-edit-14AmyChan: just made a small correction. Moving along**_


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